f66 




"THE FIRST REFORMED CHURCH OF FREEHOLD' 

KNOWN AS "the OLD BRICK CHURCH " 











2?i=Centennial Celebration 

1699—1899 

fjefonnetr Ql)urci) of 

anb itg CtDo 2^rancf)es; 
'^be ifirgt Cftef ormeb Cfjurcfj of iFreebolb 

NOW KNOWN AS THE BRICK CHURCH 
OF MARLBORO, N. J. 

AND THE 

iileformeb Cfjurcf) of C^olmbel 

FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE WHITE MEETING HOUSE 

Cuesibap, O^ctober 24, 1899 

EDITED BY 

THE REV. A^' V MARTINE 

n 
Marlboro, N. J. 

PUBLISHERS :: p. F. COLLIER df SON :: new york 











f/zM- 



ilCetormeb J^tcfj Cljurcfj of tfje J^atiasiink 



A LITERAL COPY OF THE LIST OF MEMBERS FOUND 
ENROLLED ON THE CHURCH RECORD IN 1T09. 



Peter Van Deventer and his wife Moyka, 
Jan WiJKOF and Nelke Kowenoven, his wife. 
Krun Jansen and Nelke Van Cleve. 
Gisbert Laen and Jannette Lammerse. 
Jacob Van Doorn and Maryka, his wife. 
Jan Schenk and Sara Kowenoven, his wife. 
Garret Schenk and Nelke Voorhees, his wife. 
Peter Kowenoven and Patence Daas, his wife. 
Cornelius Kowenoven and Margaret Schenk, his wife. 
Albert Kowenoven and Nelke Schenk, his wife. 

Jan Kowenoven and Jacoba , his wife. 

Jacob Kowenoven. 

Daniel Hendrickson and Katrunk Van Duk, his wife. 

WiLLEM Hendrickson and Willempe, his wife. 

Andreas Jansen and Hanna, his wife. 

Jacob Laen and Elizabeth Barkalo, his wife. 

Peter Wukof and Willimpe Schenk, his wife. 

Johannes Polhemus and Annatee , his wife. 

OuKE Leffersen and Catrina Vonk, his wife. 
Joseph Colder and Anneke Daws, his wife. 
AuRiE BoRUM and Sara Smock, his wife. 

AuRiE Bennet and Barbara , his wife. 

Hendrick Guyluck and Cautie Ammerman, his wife. 

Jacob Wukoff. 

Karet Van DItk and his wife. 

Johannes Court. 



^tlatmth Cfiurci) of ttie J^iisisiink 
1699—1800 



Pastoral Record, 1699 to 1709 

SUPPLIED BY THE MINISTERS OF LONG ISLAND, N. Y. 



1699 to 1709 — WiLHEMUS LUPARDUS. 

— ViNCENTIUS AnTONIDUS. 

— Bernardus Freeman. 
1709 to 1731 — Joseph Morgan. 
1731 to 173s— Gerardus Haeghoort. 
1736 to 1764 — Reynhard Erickson. 
1764 to 1827— Benjamin DuBois. 
1818 to 1825 — Samuel Van Vranken. 

ipirjft Cftefonneti Cfiurcfi of iFreetolb 

1825 to 1834 — Samuel A. Van Vranken. 

1835 to 1838 — James Otterson. 
1839 to 185 1 — Aaron A. Marcellus. 
1851 to 1868— Ralph Willis. 

1868 to 1873 — George Swain. 

1873 to 1887 — Theodore W. Welles. 

1888 to 1892 — ^James H. Berthole. 

1893 to 1900 — Charles W. Van Zee. 
1900 to Abram I. Martine. 

Cteformeb Cturcfi of i^olmbel 

1826 to 1836 — Jacob T. B. Beekman. 

1836 to 1838 — Frederick B. Thomson. 
1839 to 1887 — William Reilev. 

1887 to 1893 — Andrew Hageman. 

1894 to Garret Wyckoff. 



Ilteformeb Cijurcfj of tfie /^abasink 



Consistory in 1709 



Rev. Joseph Morgan, President. 
Elders. Deacons. 

Peter Van Deventer. Garret Schenck, 

John Wyckoff. Jacob Van Doorn. 

iFirsft ilteformeb Cturcfi of i^reefiolb 

Consistory in 1827. 
Rev. Samuel A. Van Vranken, D.D., President. 
Elders. Deacons. 

Garret Wyckoff. Joseph Van Cleef. 

Daniel S. Schenck. Denise Schenck. 

Aaron Smock. Garret G. Conover. 

Consistory in 1899. 

Rev. Charles W. Van Zee, Ph.D., President. 

Elders. Deacons. 

Lafayette Schanck. David R. Hobart. 

James H. Baird. James H. King. 

Joseph A. Butcher. Alexander M. Baird. 

Selah B. Wells. Charles W. Tilton. 

Consistory in 1905. 
Rev. Abram I. Martine, President. 
Elders. Deacons. 

James Tilton. Frank McDowell. 

Theodore F. Burke. Gilbert C. Hendrickson. 

Henry W. Buck. Alexander M. Baird. 

Selah B. Wells. George Buck. 



Cfje Ifteformeb Cijurct of i^olmiiel 

Consistory in 1827. 

Rev. Jacob T. B. Beekman, President 

Elders. Deacons. 

Garret Smock. Garret R. Conover. 

Daniel T. Polhemus. Cornelius B. Smock. 
John P. Luyster. 

Consistory in 1899. 

Rev. Garret Wyckoff, President. 

Elders. Deacons. 

William Antonidus. Garret R. Conover. 

William Jones. James Sickels. 

William M. Conover. Lewis Lane. 

John Still wagon. Daniel H. Smock. 

Consistory in J905. 

Rev. Garret Wyckoff, Ph.D., President 

Elders. Deacons. 

William W. Taylor. Samuel W. Conover, 

Cornelius W. Van Cleef. James C. Bennet. 

William M. Conover. Garret R. Conover. 

Edgar Schanck. Edward Tilton. 



PREFACE 

The publication of the history of this historic church was 
contemplated by those who had arranged for the celebration of 
its Two Hundredth Anniversary in October, 1899, t>ut the slow 
response of subscribers for the book and the removal to a new 
field of labor of the Rev. Charles W. Van Zee, Ph.D., led to a 
suspension of the undertaking. After the lapse of five years 
the addresses delivered at the Bi-Centennial came into the 
hands of the present pastor of "the Old Brick Church" and 
by him have been carried forward to a happy issue. He rec- 
ognizes that his eflfort to bring forth the book in such short 
period of time would have been futile without the assistance 
so kindly rendered him by others, and desires to make ac- 
knowledgment of his indebtedness to Mrs. Lydia H. S. Con- 
over, of Marlboro, N. J., for information so cheerfully given 
in reference to important matters, for photographs from which 
the following cuts were made: The Old Brick Church, tomb- 
stones of Rev. Benjamin DuBois and wife, tombstone of 
Garret Wikoff, Millpond, near Marlboro, N. J. Also to Rev. 
Theodore W. Welles, D.D., of Paterson, N. J., who willingly 
gave of his time and such data as were in his possession to 
aid in the effort to make this work as true to fact as was 
possible. 

9 



The editor of this book desires especially to express his 
thanks and a sense of his obligation to Messrs. P. F. Collier 
& Son, publishers, who, in accord with their large-heartedness, 
generously assumed all the expense of publication — thereby 
making it possible to secure funds for a memorial window, to 
be placed in the Old Brick Church, of the Rev. Benjamin 
DuBois, who for a period of sixty-two years maintained his 
relation as pastor with this Church. Should errors be discov- 
ered in this work, the writer would ask the reader to remem- 
ber that we are but mortal, hence not infallible. 

"He does well who does his best; 
Is he weary? let him rest. 
Brothers ! I have done my best." 

Abram I. Martine. 



10 



THE CELEBRATION 



THE celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary 
of the Reformed Church of Navasink and its two 
branches was held in the Old Brick Church at Brade- 
velt, N. J., Tuesday, October 24, 1899. The following is 
a copy of the first page of the programme for that occasion: 



1699 



Bi-Centennial Celebration 



1899 



of the 

Reformed 



(Dutch) Churches 




of 



Marlboro and 

HoImdeL 



First known as The Church of the Navasink 
Later, The Church of Freehold and Middletown, 

liOV7, THE REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH OF HOLMDEL 

and 

THE FIRST REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH OF FREEHOLD 

(Popularly known as the Old Brick Church.) 

Ezerciies at The Old Brick Church, Bradevelt, N. J. 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24th, 1899, 

At 10.30 A. M. 

Trains leave New York, 8.30 A. M., MatawaD, 9.41 ; arrive at Bradevelt, 9.53. 
Returning, leave Bradevelt, 4.33 P. M., Matawan, 4.63; arrive at N. Y. 6.00 P. M. 



The sun had not gone very far on its course for that day 
before the people began to gather about the historic church: 
they came from near and far, and in such numbers that 



II 



when the hour for the opening exercises had arrived there 
was an audience fiUing the church to its doors. The com- 
mittee on decorations had done their work well, as the fol- 
lowing from the "Christian Intelligencer" of November i, 
1899, makes manifest: 

"The church had been originally and tastefully decorated with the 
colors of the Netherlands, the red, white, and blue, together with the 
'Stars and Stripes,* with streamers and rosettes of orange. At the rear 
of the church, in the centre of the gallery, there hung a flag of the 
persecuted Transvaal, flanked on either side by silk American flags. 
This flag, which had been presented by Mrs. L. H. Conover for the 
occasion, was a silent witness of the sympathy of these descendants of 
the Dutch for their kindred across the sea in the hour of their great 
trial." 

The exercises of the day began promptly at 10.30 a. m., 
the Rev. Charles W. Van Zee presiding. Opening devotional 
services were conducted by a former pastor, Rev. George 
Swain, D.D., of the Presbyterian Church at Allentown, N. J. 

The historical address of the Reformed Church of Nava- 
sink, with its continuance in the First Reformed Church of 
Freehold down to 1887, was delivered by the Rev. Theodore 
W. Welles, D.D.. of Paterson, N. J. This privilege and duty 
had been accorded to and laid upon the reverend gentleman 
because of his knowledge of that history, which was due 
to his patient work in searching records for the facts during 
the years of his pastorate in this field. The morning session 
closed with the benediction pronounced by Dr. Welles, and 
was followed by a bountiful collation, provided and graciously 
served by the ladies of the two churches. 

Promptly at two o'clock p. m. the session in the church 
was resumed. Rev. Garret Wyckoff, Ph.D., pastor of the 
Holmdel church, presiding. After a short devotional service 
the history of "The Old Brick Church"* from 1887 to 1899 
was given by the Rev. Charles W. Van Zee. pastor of the 
church. Rev. Garret Wyckoff followed the address of Rev. 
Mr. Van Zee, taking up the line where Dr. Welles had diverged 



• In the proper place, following the address of Rev. C. W. Van Zee, will be 
found the history of this old church brought down to date. 

12 



to follow the future of the Old Brick Church. His address 
was an equally interesting narrative of the life and work of 
the church at Holmdel from 1825 on down through the sub- 
sequent years.* 

The historical addresses having been given, representa- 
tives from various institutions and organizations of our own 
denomination and other bodies were introduced. Prof. Jacob 
Cooper, D.C.L., D.D., of New Brunswick, N. J., spoke for 
Rutgers— "the college that stands on the hill." Prof, J. P. 
Searle came with the greetings of the Theological Seminary 
at New Brunswick, that institution from whence have come 
the pastors of these churches since the year of its foun- 
dation. 

Rev. Andrew Hageman, former pastor of Holmdel Church, 
but now connected with the Collegiate Church of New York, 
brought greetings from that body — "The oldest Protestant 
Church organization with a continuous history in this 
country." 

Rev. Peter Stryker, D.D., brought the congratulations of 
the Classis of Monmouth, with which these two churches are 
identified. 

The Rev. H. B. Fisher, of Holmdel, spoke in behalf of 
the Baptist brethren in old Monmouth, the history of whose 
settlement in and around Middletown antedates the history 
of our own church by a few years. 

James Steen, Esq., of Eatontown, spoke for the Presby- 
terian church in old Monmouth — a church whose history 
begins with our own in the closing year oi the sixteenth and 
the beginning of the seventeenth centuries. 

The Rev. F. R. Symnes, pastor of the Tennent Church, 
was present, and in an informal speech brought the con- 
gratulations of that ancient church, to whom the first pastor 
of the Navasink Church also ministered. 

The Rev. Dr. Allen Brown, of Camden, N. J., the man 
who has done so much to awaken through the Presbyterian 



* The delay in the publication has enabled Mr. Wyckoff to complete the his- 
tory of the Holmdel church, bringing it down to the year 1905. 

13 



Church of New Jersey an interest in the Tennent and old 
Scotch burying-ground, was present, and, being invited to 
speak, emphasized in a few remarks the value to the Church 
at large of such efforts in collection of facts as have been 
wrought by those who upon this occasion have given the 
historic facts of the Church of Navasink and its two branches. 
The music of the day was under charge of Mrs. C. W. 
Van Zee, organist of the Brick Church, assisted by a com- 
bined choir of the two churches. 

A. I. M. 



14 



Prayer at the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the 
Brick Church, Marlboro, October 22, 1899. 

BY REV. GEORGE SWAIN, D.D., OF ALLENTOWN, N. J., 
PASTOR OF THE BRICK CHURCH, 1868—1873. 



"Almighty God, our Father in Jesus Christ, we come now 
to worship Thee, and to acknowledge Thy favor in giving 
us this gathering to-day. We praise Thee for the occasion; 
our hearts are glad toward Thee because of it. We give 
thanks for the Church of Thy Son our Saviour; for its mis- 
sion, its might, its permanence ; for the gates of darkness shall 
not prevail against it. We rejoice that though its foes have 
been many it has triumphed ; that though often in trouble 
Thou with Thy strong arm hast brought deliverance. How 
great this Church of Thine ! purchased with precious blood, 
appointed to fill the earth with salvation. But we especially 
give praise to Thee for that portion of Thy Church that has 
so long continued here. We are filled with gratitude when 
we think of Tliy goodness toward it. We remember the 
pleasant land in which it was made to dwell. Verily Thou 
gavest it a fair region in which to build its sanctuaries and 
work out its high purposes for Thee. And we bless Thee 
for the record it has written, for the career given through 
Thy gracious care. We rejoice when we think of the souls 
won from darkness to light, from the world to Jesus ; as 
we recall also the hearts that have been comforted and en- 
riched with Thy sweet grace, as the many years rolled 
by. Yea, blessed be Thy name for the multitudes who by 
reason of this church have heard the everlasting gospel, who 
because of the cheer and strength obtained have overcome the 
world and gone home to the bliss on high. Verily Thou hast 

15 



done great things through its instrumentaHty, hast been using 
it to send the Hght of Qirist to the ends of the earth, and to 
bring the time when all flesh shall with halellujahs see the 
salvation which is proof of Thy love. And now grant that, 
as we think on these things to-day, our hearts shall know a 
larger faith and a deeper joy. May the Holy Ghost come 
upon us with power. Then shall we feel the true meaning 
of the occasion, shall come into a fulness of blessing that 
shall make these hours a precious memory for many days. 
Moreover, while we own with unfeigned thankfulness the 
mercies of the past, we pray for greater benefits for the fu- 
ture. Let it be seen, plainly seen, as time rolls on that Thou 
lovest this Church wondrously. Let both portions of it have 
great efficiency in winning souls to Christ, in hastening the 
time when men shall study war no more ; shall universally 
become a brotherhood in unity and love. Yea, grant to 
Thy servants who shall gather in this and in the other sanc- 
tuary built by this people a continual refreshing, so that all 
the fruits of firm faith and holy living may abound. And, 
blessed Lord, as Thou hast in the past given to this Church 
ministers who obtained Thy gracious approval, in the future 
years grant such and only such as shall keep the faith and 
proclaim the truth of the atoning Jesus. Thus may it be so 
long as time endures ; the glory and honor and power of this 
Church increasing meanwhile. We pray Thee, too, for a rich 
blessing on Thy servants, the pastors now laboring in this 
favored field. May they daily rejoice in the service they 
render. Give them a blessed record, O Lord, in winning 
souls, in comforting the saints, in all the work Thou dost 
call them to do. May their people with them do well in all 
the operations and achievements of grace. And now smile 
upon us in the services of to-day. May all the hours be glad 
because of Tliy favor. Let the words spoken and the songs 
we raise and the prayers we oflfer result in great glory to 
Thee and in largest blessing to these Thy people; and all we 
ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen." 



16 



THE CHURCH — HER HISTORY 

1699-1905 

HISTORICAL DISCOURSE,* BY THEODORE W. WELLES, D.D. 

1699-1888 



I. Introductory 



God is in history. He is the efficient agent in all that 
takes place, determining- the issues of every day and con- 
ducting all things to the consummation of His gracious 
designs. 

The Sacred Scriptures are, therefore, to a great extent, 
historical. They make God known by exhibiting the opera- 
tions of His tireless providence, and constrain us, through 
the glimpses they give of God's governing care, to take up 
the song: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His 
goodness and for His wonderful works toward the chil- 
dren of men." We can not read the record of the past con- 
tained in the Bible without perceiving the presence of God. 
As we turn the sacred pages, whatever story they tell, we 
see God, the central figure in every scene, the hero of every 
incident, the One above all others for whose portrayal the 
inspired artists have labored. 

In a similar manner, so far as it may be done without 
Divine inspiration, but not, we trust, without Divine aid, 
we desire to record the events which relate to the establish- 
ment of the Reformed Church in Monmouth County, N. J., 
that in all that has tended to the planting of the Church and 



* As a part of the exercises in cornmemorating the two hundredth anniver- 
sary of the founding of the Old Reformed Church of the Navasink the author was 
requested to repeat, with such alterations and additions as might be found nec- 
essary, the historical discourse which he delivered twenty-two years ago at the 
fiftieth anniversary of the dedication of the Brick Church, the present house of 
worship of the Old Church of the Navasink. The historical discourse here given 
was prepared in compliance with that request, and was delivered in outline at the 
bi-centennial of the church's foundation. T. W. W. 

17 



its subsequent growth we may recognize the Lord God Al- 
mighty ruling over all in sovereign majesty, eternal and 
supreme. 

As God is in history the past should be revered. It is the 
mold, the fashioner of the present. Its manners and cus- 
toms, its thoughts and religious life, the triumphs of its 
genius and the achievements of its piety, have made us what 
we are. 

The past is a storehouse of instruction for the present. 
In it we discover how mankind have struggled with the mys- 
teries surrounding them, and from it we learn how they tri- 
umphed over difficulties and achieved noble things. It also 
contains a record of the dead, of those who were wrecked 
by life's tempests and storms, and of those who through faith 
outweathered the gale and entered with joy the Haven of 
Rest. 

The past is a great benefactor of the present. It gives us 
a legacy, better and more enduring than land titles or treas- 
ures, of far-reaching influences which affect the daily conduct 
and determine to a great extent our success or defeat in the 
great battle of life. It gives us precious memories, which 
cause us to view with reverential feelings the objects about 
which they may be entwined ; which snatch the soul away 
from the power of the present, and "advance us in the dig- 
nity of thinking beings." 

To you the past has given this Christian Church, with its 
precious memories, its hallowed associations, and its holy 
influences, through which, as through a channel wide and deep, 
there has ever flowed to you the priceless benefits of religious 
instruction, and a mind made familiar with the truths of re- 
demption. This Church stands to-day, a monument of the 
past, perpetuating the faith of your buried ancestors, and 
reminding you that those whose names you bear possessed 
hearts filled with love of the Heavenly Father. Worshiping 
here, we are surrounded with the memories of more than two 
centuries, and can wc not say, in the language of a distin- 
guished New England poet: 

i8 



"If leaflets from some hero's tomb, 

Or moss-wreath torn from ruins hoary, 
Or faded flowers whose sisters bloom 
On fields renowned in story; 



"If it be true that things like these 
To heart and eye bright visions bring, 
Shall not far holier memories 

To these memorials cling? 
Which need no mellowing mist of time 
To hide the crimson stains of crime !" 

Two hundred years ago a band of Christian worshipers, 
desirous of enjoying the stated ministrations of the means 
of grace, founded for themselves and for their children, and 
for all whom the Lord their God should call, this Christian 
Church. They came from a land overshadowed with "the 
grandest historical associations and the noblest memories of 
the past"; from a land which, redeemed from the sea by 
the energy of its inhabitants, became the centre of commerce 
and the mistress of the seas, and during the era of the great 
Reformation was the frequent scene of the purest patriotism, 
the most heroic courage, and the most unfaltering devotion 
to the right, the world has ever witnessed. They came with 
strong faith in the God of Heaven. They bore in one hand 
the Holy Bible, and with the other held aloft, as a true 
exposition of the truths of Redemption and a clear declara- 
tion of Christian doctrine, the Heidelberg Catechism, the 
Belgic Confession of Faith, and the Canons of the Synod of 
Dordrecht. They founded this Church, that they and their 
children might be duly instructed in the doctrines taught by 
these venerable symbols, and, cheered by the hopes which 
such teaching inspires, they lived and labored and died in 
the Lord. They rest from their labors, and their works do 
follow them. 

I propose to relate the history of the Church they estab- 
lished — the first Reformed Church of Monmouth County — 
the Church with which so many of us are, or have been, 

19 



connected in our several relations as pastors, officers, fam- 
ilies, and communicants. 

II. The Character of the Early Settlers 
OF New Jersey 

The first Europeans to occupy the present States of New 
York and New Jersey were Netherlanders who came to 
America, not like the Puritans of New England, to escape 
religious persecution, but to establish trading posts and colo- 
nies, under the protecting care of the United Netherlands or 
Dutch Republic. The Hollanders possessed in the Father- 
land the religious liberty which the Puritans sought in 
America, and transplanted it on American soil, denying no 
one the rights of citizenship in the New Netherlands because 
of his religious creed. As early as 1561 the public authori- 
ties of the Netherlands were of the opinion that ''all re- 
ligions should be tolerated and that all civil restraint in mat- 
ters of religion is as detestable as the Inquisition." This 
catholic spirit made the Netherlands city of Amsterdam an 
object of ridicule in other countries, and caused the religious 
bigots of the day to style it "the common harbor for all here- 
sies." The English poet, Andrew Marvel, in denunciation of 
this tolerant spirit, says : 

"Hence Amsterdam, Turk, Christian, Pagan, Jew, 
Staple of sects and mint of schisms grew, 
That bank of conscience, where nor one so strange 
Opinion, but finds credit and exchange. 
In vain for Catholics ourselves we bear. 
The Universal church is only there." 

From this early cradle of religious liberty the Pilgrim 
Fathers embarked on the "Mayflower" and weighed anchor 
for the voyage, forever memorable in the annals of America, 
which resulted in the establishment of the Plymouth colony 
on the bleak coasts of New England. From this land also, 
between the years 161 5 and 1664, there came to America a 

20 



quiet, order-loving, peaceable and conservative people, who 
established settlements at the mouth of the Hudson River 
and along its banks to the head of tide-water. The greater 
portion were God-fearing people, of approved character in 
the Old World, who formed a Church wherever they made a 
settlement, and endeavored to mold their government and 
laws in accordance with the faith once delivered to the saints 
and the manners and customs of the fatherland. Their suc- 
cess in this direction was beyond the range of their expecta- 
tions — their influence in the New World excelling that of 
any other nationality, however large the number of its rep- 
resentatives, or persistent their claims. Human equality, the 
government of the people by the people and for the people, 
the town-meeting, the public school, were ideas borrowed 
from the Hollanders. Even the national name — the United 
States of America — was suggested by the name of the Dutch 
Republic, the United Netherlands, and the form of govern- 
ment at present prevailing, copied from the government of 
the Netherlandish Reformed Church. In farming, garden- 
ing, floriculture, stock raising and breeding they surpassed all 
others ; were the first to introduce and acclimate the Oriental 
fruits, flowers, grains, and plants that are now so common, 
as well as the popular American breakfast luxury, the hock- 
weit or buckwheat cake. They invented the inclosed and 
covered forcing bed, the hothouse, the winnowing fan, the 
plow in its modern form, and taught the use of artificial 
grasses and the rotation of crops. The best dikes, drain- 
age, reclamation of lands, gardens, and farms in Colonial 
days were along the Hudson River and in the Mohawk Val- 
ley. From them came the sleighs and the skates, which 
make winter a season of delight and pleasure, and also the 
stove, without which our homes would be wellnigh cheerless. 
"It was on a Dutch sleigh that the Rhode Islander, Oliver 
H. Perry, of English Quaker and Scotch-Irish descent, made 
rapid transit to Lake Erie, and by means of the Dutch in- 
vention, called a camel, floated his green-timber ships over 
the bar and out to victory, under the same red and white 

21 



stripes that floated from the masts of Piet Hein, \'an Tromp, 
and De Ruyter." The Dutch with their sawmills built New 
Amsterdam, the capital city of the New Netherlands, with 
sawed lumber, and thereby taught the New Englander to 
abandon the laborious saw-pit and to reap wealth from his 
forests. They invented linen underclothing, besides starch 
and its application to ornamental dress, leading the way also 
in the manufacture of soap from wood-ashes. "In the evo- 
lution of the post and frame, inclosed and canopied bed, the 
bolster and the modem pillow, covered with removable case ; 
in the invention of the thimble,* in the perfection and multi- 
plication of spinning-wheels for the domestic treatment of 
yarn, and of home machiner\- for the preparation of flax 
into linsey-woolsey, the Dutch were the inventors and the 
English on either side of the Atlantic the borrowers." Be- 
cause of their advance in civilization and their acknowledged 
superiority, their neighbors in Connecticut invariably said of 
any new invention or improvement: 'Tt beats the Dutch," 
as if that were proof undoubted of its excellency and merit, 
"Whenever we utter the Anglicized words : anchor, caboose, 
ballast, sloop, stoker, stove, doily, brandy, duffel, cambric, 
easel, landscape, boss, stoop, forlorn hope, bodyguard, school 
of fishes, boodle, scow, Santa Claus, blickey, pinkster, and a 
host of words in art, music, seamanship, handicraft, war. ex- 
ploration, and the lines of human achievement most followed 
in the seventeenth century, we are but mispronouncing more 
or less fluently Dutch words, the labels of things borrowed 
from the Netherlanders who settled in New York and New 
Jersey." * The scenes and homes from whence these Nether- 
landers came are described with much poetic beauty in the 
following lines : 

"What land is this, that seems to be 
A mingling of the land and sea? 
This land of sluices, dikes and dunes? 



* See "Tlie Puritan in Holland, England, and America," by Douglass Campbell, 
also "The Influence of the Netherlands in the Making of the English Common- 
wealth and the American Republic," and "The Dutch Influence in New England," 
by William Elliot Griffis. 

22 



This water net, that tesselates 

The landscape? This unending maze 

Of gardens, through whose latticed gates 

The imprisoned pinks and tulips gaze? 

Where in long summer afternoons 

The sunshine, softened by the haze, 

Comes streaming down as through a screen : 

Where over fields and pastures green 

The painted ships float high in air, 

And over all and everywhere 

The sails of windmills sink and soar 

Like wings of sea-gulls on the shore? 

"See : every house and room is bright 
With glimmers of reflected light 
From plates that on the dresser shine: 
Flagons to foam with Flemish beer, 
Or sparkle with the Rhenish wine, 
And pilgrim flasks with fleur-de-lis, 
And ships upon a rolling sea 
And tankards, pewter topped and queer, 
With grotesque mask and musketeer: 
Each hospitable chimney smiles 
A welcome from its painted tiles : 
The parlor walls, the painted floors. 
The stairways and the corridors. 
The borders of the garden walks. 
Are beautiful with fadeless flowers, 
That never droop in wind or showers. 
And never wither on their stalks." 

III. The Church of the Early Settlers, its Origin and 
Development 

A large majority of the people who commenced the coloni- 
zation of New York and New Jersey came here as meinbers 
of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, and represent- 
atives of the Refonned religion. When they established a 
Chtirch, it was organized in accordance with the rules and 
regulations of the Church of their fatherland, endeared to 
their hearts by many precious memories, and embalmed in 
their afifections through hallowed associations with the most 
heroic era in their national histor\% 



Fifty years before Martin Luther came to a clear knowl- 
edge of the great doctrines of the faith with which he shook 
the world. Wessel Gansevoort and Rudolph Agricola, of Hol- 
land, were students of the Bible, and by their labors in the 
dissemination of evangelical truth mightily prepared the way 
for the civil and religious conflict of the Netherlanders with 
Charles V and his son. Philip II, of Spain. "Confessors 
and martyrs were never wanting for the persecutions of the 
Government and the Inquisition. The poor people called 
their churches the Churches of the Netherlands under the 
Cross. They worshiped privately for many years in scat- 
tered little assemblies until they crystallized into a regular 
ecclesiastical organization. In 1563 the Synod of Antwerp 
was held, which adopted the Belgic Confession of Faith, and 
laid the foundation of the Reformed Protestant Church of the 
Netherlands, whose scholars and theologians, whose schools 
and universities, whose pure faith and holy living, whose ac- 
tive zeal and martyr spirit, secured for her the leading posi- 
tion among the sister churches of the continent." 

This Church the early settlers planted in America. It was 
the Church of their fathers : and when the Dutch possessions 
in this country were surrendered to the British crown — al- 
though there were but 10,000 Hollanders in the province — 
there were twelve churches under the care of the Synod of 
North and South Holland : three in the city of New York, 
five on Long Island, two on the shores of the Hudson River, 
one in Delaware, and one at Bergen, N. J. 

They were Reformed Protestant Churches,, with a Dutch 
membership, using the Dutch language, and for a long time 
unable to understand any other; but it was thirty years after 
the province of New Netherlands had been ceded to the Brit- 
ish before the word Dutch was incorporated in the title of 
a Reformed Church in America. May 11. 1696, W^illiam III 
of England gave a charter to the Netherland Reformed Con- 
gregation in the city of New York, as the "Reformed Prot- 
estant Dutch Church." to distinguish it from the Episcopal 
Church which was styled the English Church, and which, 

24 



in favor with the Government, was endeavoring to compel 
the Dutch colonists to forsake the Church of their fathers 
and worship God in accordance with the ritual of the Church 
of England. 

It was expressly stipulated in the articles of surrender 
that the people should be allowed liberty of conscience in Di- 
vine worship and Christian discipline, but a minister of the 
Church of England was sent to Albany to take possession of 
the Dutch church there, and repeated attempts were made 
to secure control of the Dutch churches on Long Island for 
the benefit of the same ecclesiastical establishment. The 
Dutch colonists were heavily taxed for the maintenance of 
Episcopal ministers, and were subjected to such annoyance 
and petty persecution by the Church of England that many of 
them fled to the unsettled lands of New Jersey to escape En- 
glish oppression and British tyranny.* 

The name given the Church by William III of England, a 
Hollander to the manor born, was cordially adopted through 
national pride wherever the Hollanders or their descendants 
established a Church, and for two hundred years was the 
corporate title of the denomination. In 1867 the title was 
changed, as a large majority of the Church's membership re- 
garded it misleading, causing many to think that the ser- 
vices were conducted in the Dutch language. The denomi- 
nation has since been known as the Reformed Church in 
America. 

IV. The Settlement of Monmouth County 

When in 1609 Hendrick Hudson, under the direction and 
in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, explored 
in the "Half Moon" the noble river bearing his name, what 
is now New Jersey was called by its possessors, the Lenape 



* This intolerant spirit, if it is dead, died hard. January 19, 1707, the Rev. 
Francis Makemie, then on a visit to New York, accepted an invitation to preach 
in a private house in Queen Street and, as a result, he was arrested by order 
of Lord Cornbury, Governor of the province, "for favoring pernicious doctrines 
and principles to the disturbance of the Church of England." Two months elapsed 
before the "disturber" got out of jail. 

25 



Indians. Scheyichby. "In 1614. by virtue of an edict of the 
States-General of Holland, exclusive rights were granted for 
trading purposes to a trading company for four years. They 
constituted a purely commercial establishment, but prepared 
the way for colonization." 

In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was organized 
and empowered to traffic and plant colonies on the coasts of 
Africa and of America from the Straits of Magellan to the 
remotest north. In 1623 operations were commenced in this 
country and colonization rapidly advanced, chiefly on the isl- 
ands about New York and along the banks of the Hudson. 

The first village on the western shore of the river was 
Bergen, probably commenced as early as 161 8, but for sev- 
eral subsequent years a mere place for trading with the In- 
dians. The first appropriation of land to individuals in the 
State of New Jersey was the purchase of Michael Pauw, 
called Hoboken Hacking, opposite New Amsterdam or New 
York, on the west side of the river Mauritius, or Hudson 
River, July 12, 1630. It was not until near the close of the 
seventeenth century that permanent settlements were made 
within the bounds of what is now known as Monmouth 
County, N. J. It commenced in 1665, the year following 
the surrender of the Dutch Provinces in America to the Brit- 
ish Crown. The first settlers were Scotch and English peo- 
ple from other American Provinces, with a few from Bar- 
badoes and England. They formed the towns of Shrews- 
bury and Middletown, which in 1673 contained 128 white 
men. The township of Freehold was not forpied until 1693. 

The first intimation we have of a Dutch settler is from 
a deed conveying a small house and lot in Middletown to Dei- 
rick Teunison, in 1672. For the next twenty years there are 
only a few conveyances of real estate to Dutch people, and 
the localities conveyed are too scattered and the number of 
the Dutch too small to justify us in speaking of a Dutch set- 
tlement in Monmouth County, until about 1695. Bearing 
this date we find a deed of conveyance executed to one Gar- 
rett \"on Schenck. Two years later the names of Samuel 

26 



Hoffmire and Garret Von Schenck are among the list of 
grand jurors. Soon after this we find the names of Jacob 
Van Dorn, John Schenck, Johannes Polhemus, CorneHus 
Cowenhoven, Daniel Hendrickson, Lawrence Van Kirk, John 
Wyckoff, and Benjamin Van Kleef. This brings us to 1707, 
when Aurie Booraem and one Van Brackel are appointed 
Overseers of the Poor in Freehold. 

The majority of these persons came from Long Island, 
they or their parents having located there when arriving from 
Holland. Their families and a few others, as they settled 
here from time to time, made up the congregation to which 
for ten years the Long Island pastors ministered, when their 
labors issued in the regularly organized Reformed Church 
of Freehold and Middletown. 

Other Dutch families intimately connected with the his- 
tory of our Church followed soon after. In the Church records 
we find the name of Smock in 1710, Van Mater and Sutphen 
in 1713, Brower in 1715, Van Der Veer in 1723. A few 
Scotch and English families, who through intermarriage have 
become Dutch, settled here much earlier. The names of Bown, 
Tilton, Holmes, and Whitlock are found among the first set- 
tlers in 1665. The Bairds made their appearance about 1680, 
and "Janathan Forman" was made a Dutchman by being re- 
ceived into the Church in 1713, the first adult to be baptized. 

The Bairds endeavored, but without success, to introduce 
a new mode of courtship. The first of that name was sur- 
named John, and tradition declares that one day he met Mary 
Hall, whom he afterward married, in the woods. As both 
were bashful, they halted at some distance from each other, 
under a tree. It was love at first sight, and in a short time, 
John, who was a Quaker, broke the silence by saying: "If 
thou wilt marry me, say yea ; if thou wilt not, say nay." 
]\Iary said "Yea," and proved a noble wife and mother. 

There are those who think there was a previous settlement 
by the Dutch and a church in this region, known as the Re- 
formed Church of the Navasink. The most diligent research has 
failed to discover any historical data in support of such a state- 

2^ 



ment. The Church whose history we are about to relate is 
styled in the records of the Church the Reformed Church of 
Freehold of the Navasink. In 1738, in a record of a minis- 
terial gathering in New York City, the residence of the pastor 
of this church is given as Neversink.* The Hon. George C. 
Beekman, of Freehold, has in his possession a letter bearing 
date 1754, addressed Roelif Schenck, Naversinks, near the 
Freehold church. Mr. Schenck lived within a rifle shot of 
where we are assembled. The whole county of Monmouth 
previous to 1683 is frequently called in the court records the 
County of Nevvasink. 

At this time the whole region now composing the town- 
ships of Marlborough, Ivlanalapan, Freehold, Millstone, 
Upper Freehold, and a portion of Ocean County was known 
as Freehold. The present townships of Middletown, Holm- 
del, Raritan, and Matawan were called Middletown, while 
Atlantic, Shrewsbury, and Ocean townships, together with a 
large portion of Ocean County, was designated Shrewsbury. 

In Middletown village there was an English church, where 
the Protestant Episcopal church now stands, and also an 
old Presbyterian church near Crawford Hendrickson's, on 
what is known as the Presbyterian Burying Ground. This 
was an old, dilapidated building in Dominie Morgan's time, 
even then abandoned and left to decay. Its neglected con- 
dition annoyed the dominie, and when riding by, if he saw 
the door or a window open, we are told he would stop, and 
dismounting his horse, reverently close the open door or win- 
dow before proceeding on his way. 

The Scotch Presbyterians had a meeting ho'use at the 
place now known as the Old Scotch Burying Ground, but 
at that time honored with the name of Frcehill. "The Bap- 
tists of Monmouth County" also had a meeting house, de- 



* Dominie Erickzon, when commencing the record of baptisms administered 
by himself, in 1736, says: "Baptismal record of the Reformed congregation of the 
Nevezink." The whole region between the ocean and the Raritan River was known 
as the Navasink. So called because occupied by a sub-tribe of the Lenape Indians, 
the Navasinks. This same region is sometimes called the Raritans. Families set- 
tling here are said to have removed to the "Raritans," on the old church records 
of rlatbush, Long Island. 

28 



scribed as standing "on the west side of a little brook called 
John Bray's brook, in the township of Middletown." There 
was a Scotch and English Quaker meeting house on the 
present site of the Topanamus Burying Ground, which 
through the labors of George Keith, Surveyor-General of 
East Jersey, who led the Quakers into the Church of Eng- 
land, became the place of worship for the congregation now 
known as the Protestant Episcopal Church of Freehold village. 

V. The First Reformed Church of Monmouth County 

The earliest reliable information we have of a Reformed 
Church in the county is that in 1699 the Dutch families of 
Monmouth County were sufficient in number to have stated 
preaching. This service was rendered, according to agree- 
ment, by ministers from Long Island at appointed times in 
rotation. Their names were Wilhelmus Lupardus, Vincen- 
tius Antonides, and Bernardus Freeman. They were pastors 
of the collegiate churches of Kings County, Long Island. 
Of the Rev. Mr. Lupardus nothing is known. 

The Rev. Vincentius Antonides was born in Bergen, 
Friesland, in 1670, from whence he emigrated to America, 
where he arrived January i, 1705. He died July 18, 1744. 
The family name was Wickant. His pastorate of the Long 
Island churches was disturbed by the attempts of Lord 
Combury, Governor of the Province of New York, to foist 
Episcopacy upon the Dutch colonists. This brought him in 
conflict with his colleague, the Rev. Bernardus Freeman. 
Concerning Mr. Antonides, a newspaper published about the 
time of his death says : 

"On the i8th of July, 1744, died at his house at Flatbush the Rev. 
Mr. Vincentius Antonides, in the 74th j'ear of his age. He was a gen- 
tleman of extensive learning, of an easy, condescending behavior and 
conversation, and of a regular exemplary piety, endeavoring to practice 
himself what he preached to others, was kind, benevolent and charitable 
to all according to his abilities, meek, humble, patriotic and resigned 
under all afflictions, losses, calamities and misfortunes which befell him 
in his own person and family, which were not a few, and after a linger- 

29 



iiig disease, full of hopes of a blessed immortality, departed this life to 
the great and irreparable loss of his relations and friends and to the 
great grief of his congregation." 

He published among other things a volume of sermons 
and a work entitled "De Spiegel der Selfkennis," or "Mirror 
of Self-Knowledge," a collection of ancient, moral and philo- 
sophical maxims. His son, Johannis, was a deacon of this 
church in 1726, and married Johanna, daughter of Peter 
Couwenhoven and Patience Daws, who were among the forty- 
nine members of the Church at its organization, and from 
whom many who have been identified with the Church have 
descended.* 

The Rev. Bernardus Freeman was born in Westphalia 
and was licensed by the Classis of Lingen. He died in 1743. 
He was formerly a tailor. He came to America in 1700, and 
a short time after his arrival became pastor of the church 
at Schenectady, N. Y. He acquired more skill in the lan- 
guage of the Mohawk Indians than any Dutch minister. In 
this language he translated portions of the Scriptures. His 
natural talents were remarkable. He is described as "a gen- 
tleman of a good temper and well aflfected toward the Church 
of England. If there were a bishop in this part of the world, 
he would be persuaded to take Episcopal ordination." He 
accepted a civil license from Governor Cornbury to officiate 
if the churches on Long Island, after he had declined a call 
from them. He allowed himself to be used as a tool by the 
representatives of the British Government to secure the es- 
tablishment of Episcopacy in fact as well as by law. This 
brought him into trouble with Antonides and greatly dis- 
turbed the peace of the Long Island churches for many years. 

These ministers, it is said, found their services here ex- 
ceedingly burdensome because of "the distance thev were 



1 "'T<^ ^°^^^"°^'"" an'l li's wife, Patience Daws, are buried beneath the 
cluirch edifice in wliich this history was delivered. Through the marriage of 
their daughter with Johannis Antonid-es tlicy— and also the Rev. \incentius ,\nto- 
riidcs— arc the grcat-grcatgreat-great-great-KrandparenIs of the author's grandchil- 
\\r!}' A- I'loyd Lott and Theodore Welles Lott, of Brooklyn, N. Y. their son. 
>viiiiam Cowenhoven. is also the gneat-great-great-great-grandfather of the author's 
grandson, Theodore VVelles Van Dcrvecr. 

30 



compelled to travel, and the danger of crossing the great bay 
in small boats." 

The Church records begin in 1709, one hundred years 
after Hendrick Hudson landed at the Highlands of the Nava- 
sink, the first European to set his foot upon the soil of New 
Jersey, or to behold the fertile fields now known as Mon- 
mouth Coimty, the garden of the State. 

The Church records begin with this statement, recorded 
in the Low Dutch language: "In the year of our Lord, 1709, 
on the 19th of October, the Rev. Joseph Morgan, a minister 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, was installed as pastor of ihe 
Reformed congregation of Freehold and Middletown, in the 
presence of Rev. Bemardus Freeman of Kings County." 

Tlien as now it was the Reformed Church — nor should 
it be overlooked that it is spoken of as the Reformed congre- 
gation of Freehold and Middletown — one congregation, with 
families residing in the two townships of Freehold and Mid- 
dletown, and sometimes called, as we have already remarked, 
the Congregation of the Navasink. 

The Consistory was composed of Peter Van Deventer and 
John Wyckofif, elders, and Jacob Van Dom and Garret 
Schenck, deacons. 

There were forty-nine in the communion of the Church, 
forty-five of whom had been received by certificate and four 
by confession of faith in Christ. 

From this time to the present, a period of 190 years, this 
congregation has never been without the services of a settled 
pastor for a whole year but once. That was more than a 
century ago, when, for fifteen months in 1735-6, there was 
no under-shepherd for the flock. This is a very remarkable 
record. The first Reformed Church duly organized on the 
soil of New Jersey was the Reformed Church at Bergen, but 
this Church was without a pastor until 1757. 

The first installed pastor of a Reformed Church in New 
Jersey was Rev. Guillaume Bertholf, who was installed at 
Hackensack in 1694. The second pastor of a Reformed 
Church installed in the State was Rev. Joseph Morgan, at 

31 



Freehold, in 1709. Until 1826 there was no other Reformed 
Church in Monmouth County. Now there are nine, all of 
them the offspring of the Old Mother Church, over which, 
in 1709, the Rev. Joseph Morgan was installed. 

VI. The First Pastor, Rev. Joseph Morgan 

When the Rev. Joseph Morgan was installed pastor of 
the Reformed congregation of Freehold and Middletown, he 
was pastor of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, the germ of 
the well-known Old Tennent Church. He was a Presbyterian 
minister and a Dutch dominie at the same time. When he 
appeared in court to take the necessary oaths as a minister of 
the gospel, he was presented by representatives of both con- 
gregations. These oaths were required because he was not a 
minister of the Church of England, According to "An Act 
of Parliament for Exempting her Majesties Protestant sub- 
jects dissenting from the Church of England, from the pen- 
alties of certain laws," every minister not in the communion 
of the English Church was obliged to take oath that he would 
not teach the doctrine of Transubstantiation, nor anything 
contrary to the doctrine of the Trinity, as taught in the 
thirty-nine articles of the English Church. This was called 
"qualifying," and in this manner Dominie Morgan "qualified" 
himself, in December, 1709, having been "presented by sev- 
eral of said congregation, viz. : Jacob Laen, John Wikof, 
John Sutfin, William Hendrickson, John Essmith, William 
Wilkins, and Auri Mattison, in behalf of themselves and the 
rest of their brethren." The first three of thesfe persons were 
in the communion of the Reformed Church, the others repre- 
sented the Scotch Presbyterians. 

During his whole ministry Dominie Morgan was con- 
nected with the Presbytery of Philadelphia, to which he was 
amenable. The circumstances which led to his settlement 
among the Dutch were his ability to preach in the Low Dutch 
language, and the willingness of himself and the Scotch Pres- 
byterians to give the Dutch three-fourths of his services— an 

32 



arrangement it would have been impossible to make had not 
the Dutch congregation been the most flourishing. 

At this time Monmouth County was httle less than a 
forest. Here and there was a clearing, but the settlements 
were widely scattered, the streams unbridged, and the roads 
not much more than paths through the wilderness. Horse- 
back riding for many years was a necessity. In the latter 
part of his ministry Dominie Morgan, it is said, attracted at- 
tention by riding through the county in a two-wheeled cart or 
gig — probably the first thing of the kind brought into the 
county. That was more than a .century and a half ago, but 
even to this day, as I know from experience, the people laugh 
if they see their minister riding in a sulky. 

Mr. Morgan was probably of Welsh origin. He was born 
in 1674. When twenty- three years of age he was ordained in 
Connecticut to the gospel ministry'. He was thirty-five years 
old when becoming the pastor of this Church. He had pre- 
viously been settled over the Presbyterian churches of Bed- 
ford and East Chester, in New York, and afterward minis- 
tered to the churches of Hopewell and Maidenhead, New 
Jersey. He was persecuted in his ministry on account of 
the manner of his ordination and his use of notes in preach- 
ing. He incurred the ill-will of Dominie Frelinghuysen, of 
Six-Mile-Run, the most influential Dutch minister in this 
section of the State, by baptizing the children of some 
of the disaffected members of his congregation, who ap- 
plied for such service. Our baptismal register contains the 
record. In bitter retaliation Dominie Frelinghuysen de- 
nounced him as "the friend and advocate of a lifeless, God- 
dishonoring formality." In 1728 various charges were brought 
against him, such as practicing astrology, countenancing pro- 
miscuous dancing, and transgressing in drink, but they were 
not sustained. Some few years after this, intemperance was 
proved against him and he was suspended from the ministry. 
He was fully restored in 1738. Two years later, having heard 
George Whitfield preach, he was so aflfected with Whitfield's 
spirit that he went forth as an evangelist, proclaiming the 

33 



gospel toward the seacoasts of New Jersey and other places 
destitute of the means of grace. He died while engaged in 
these inissionar>- labors, sixty-six years of age, and was laid 
to rest in a grave unknown. 

He was a man of more than usual ability, a learned man 
and a scholar. He was the author of a number of printed 
sermons on various subjects, and published several theologi- 
cal treatises. A Latin letter written by him to Cotton JMather, 
the most eminent clergyman of New England, bearing date 
1721, is preserved at Worcester, Massachusetts. The testi- 
mony of the Consistory, at the time of his leaving this con- 
gregation, gives him a reputation for piety and ministerial 
fidelity scarcely equaled by any of the ministers at that time 
in the country\ They declare him to be "a man of acknowl- 
edged orthodoxy and exemplary character." Their language 
is, "We have enjoyed the services of Dominie Morgan, who, 
according to his ability, has faithfully and zealously perfomied 
the duties of his charge." Dr. Reiley informs me that he was 
told by the Rev. Dr. Thomas De Witt that Dominie Morgan 
learned the Dutch language out of pure zeal for the Lord's 
work, that he might be able to preach to the Dutch people, 
among wdiom he found himself placed. His labor was not 
in vain in the Lord. His ministry lasted twenty-two years. 
He received one hundred persons into the communion of 
the Church, the first of whom, Jan Romain, Benjamin Keener, 
Derrick Barkalow, and Janake, his wife, were received the 
13th of May, 171 1. He baptized 582 infants, the first of 
whom was Abraham, son of Jacob \'an Dorn, October 20, 
1709. In 1 72 1 a revival was enjoyed, when twelve persons 
united with the Church at one time. He preached his fare- 
w-ell sermon August 2, 1731. 

Vn. The Location of the Church 

In 1714, five years after the installation of Dominie Mor- 
gan, the land on which this building stands, and the adjoin- 
ing fami of Mr. Daniel P. Conover, becaine the property of 

34 



the Church. It was first bought of one Richard Salter or 
Sadler, in 1709, for the sum of 450 pounds, by Ghertie Re- 
main, widow of Stoffel Romain, "for the use of the Dutch 
Presbyterian minister." In 1714 it was conveyed by Jacobus 
Romain, her son, to John Schenck and Cornelius Cowen- 
hoven, of Middletown, and Peter Tyson, of Freehold, in 
trust for the use of the congregation. Because of the uncer- 
tain tenure of lands and the conflict of titles at that early 
day, the same property, with the addition of 30 acres, was 
deeded, in 1748, to Cornelius Van Der Veer, of Middletown, 
and John Hans, of Freehold, "in trust for the Low Dutch 
congregation of Protestants, as the same was established by 
the Synod of Dort, in the years 1618 and 19, to be equally 
divided between the two congregations of Freehold and Mid- 
dletown, both in quantity and quality." This deed was exe- 
cuted by Thomas Kinnan. The property was occupied by 
Dominie Morgan as a parsonage. It is described as contain- 
ing "100 acres of good arable land, as good as any in Free- 
hold, on which a family may subsist comfortably." Dominie 
Morgan, it is said, realized at least 30 pounds a year from 
his farming operations "besides his own bread." Its location 
is designated "five quarters of an hours distance from the 
waters edge, and the half of a quarter of an hours distance 
from the church." 

The question now arises, wdiere zvas the church, the first 
Reformed Church of Monmouth County, located ? Two places 
are referred to as the probable site. The Rev. Aaron A. 
Marcellus, to whom I am indebted for much valuable infor- 
mation, says, in a book of historical notes, that the old church 
stood either on the brow of the hill, on the right-hand side 
of the turnpike, just as you cross the bridge near the mill 
in going from the church to Marlborough, or on Hendrick- 
son's Hill, the large knoll on which a solitary apple tree is 
now growing, almost directly in the rear of the present par- 
sonage at Marlborough. Between these two places it is not 
difficult to decide. There is in the former place an old grave- 
yard, whose existence has probably led to the conclusion that 

3 35 



a church once stood there; but in tracing the history of this 
burying ground, I find it was formerly known and called 
Hance's burying ground, and was a portion of the estate of 
John Hance,* one of the original proprietors under the Nich- 
olls patent. This proves conclusively that the old church 
did not stand there. Burying grounds invariably take the 
name of the church to which they belong. The tradition 
which fixes the site of the old church on Hendrickson's Hill 
is probably correct. 

In tracing back the title to the property in question, I find 
that more than a century ago, a quarter of an acre of land, 
which takes in Hendrickson's Hill, was deeded several times to 
different parties, until at length it became the property of Mr. 
John H. Smock, who owned the adjoining land. When we 
remember that in those days settlers, instead of buying just 
land enough to build on, sought large tracts of land — that the 
division of farms has always been obnoxious to the taste of 
the Dutch yeomanry, and that the sale of small parcels of 
land is of comparatively recent origin — it seems almost cer- 
tain that this quarter of an acre was set off and fenced about 
for some special purpose, a schoolhouse or a church. Among 
the Dutch the same building frequently served both purposes 
— was called a "Gabat House," or prayer house — and was 
used for religious worship on Sunday, and as a schoolhouse 
through the week. It may be the first church partook of 
this character. The building which fomierly stood on Hen- 
drickson's Hill, and was taken down more than fifty years 
ago, was just such a building as a pioneer people would be 
likely to erect as a house of worship. It was about twenty 
feet square, with a steep gable roof. The sides were shingled. 
The door was in the middle of one of the sides, and was quite 
large. There was a window on each side of the door. There 
were no partitions within, but one room occupied the whole 
space. Such a building would not have been erected for 



• Some persons think this name should be spelled Hans, pronounced Honce, 
If so, the property in question did not belong to the John Hance mentioned, but 
to a Dutch family whose name 1 find on the baptismal register in 1733, Johannes 
Hanse and Lena Willemse, his wife. 

36 



dwelling purposes. It was used as a dwelling in later years, 
but only after additions were built and alterations made. It 
was a very old building when taken down. It is also well 
known that fifty years ago, when the congregation was di- 
vided in opinion and sentiment concerning the location of the 
Brick Church, some wished to have it placed on Hendrick- 
son's Hill. As at that time there was no village at Marl- 
borough, the only apparent reason for such a desire is the 
fact, then better known than at present, that the first church 
stood there. So confident am I that this is the fact, I think 
the property should be purchased and a suitable monument 
erected thereon to the memory of the founders of the Re- 
formed Church in Monmouth County. 

At this time, 1709, there was no house of worship belong- 
ing to the Reformed Church at Middletown. The deed for 
the Middletown church property was executed in 1723. This 
was after the erection of the church. In describing the prop- 
erty, the deed locates the place of beginning a certain num- 
ber of chains "southeast of the Meeting House." The date 
of the erection of the church is unknown. It was probably 
commenced as early as 1721, as at that time I find a perma- 
nent increase in the number of elders and deacons composing 
the Consistory. This church was located about half a mile 
beyond the present Holmdel parsonage, on the road leading 
to Middletown village, near an old burying ground. We 
know nothing in relation to its former size. From some old 
papers in possession of Dr. Reiley, we are led to suppose that 
it must have been built in squares, without pews. There 
seems to have been eleven of these squares, besides benches. 
There are still extant curious lists of these squares and their 
occupants, which show that the present congregation is to a 
great extent descended from those who reared the old buikl- 
ing. It was pulled down or destroyed in 1764. The prop- 
erty on which it stood was conveyed to Daniel Hendrickson 
and Johannes Polhemus, by Andrew Johnson, of Middletown, 
in consideration of the sum of three pounds "for the sole use, 
benefit, and behoof of the people belonging to the religious 

Z7 



society known as the Dutch Presbyterians." Previous to 
the erection of the Middletown church the only Reformed 
ChiiTch building in Monmouth County was the one located 
on Hendrickson's Hill, in the present township of Marl- 
borough, then forming a part of the township of Freehold. 
This is the reason why the congregation is always called, in 
the early Church records, the congregation of "Freehold and 
Middletown." 

VIII. The Pastor Called from Holland, the Rev. 
Gerardus Haeghoort 

The Rev. Gerardus Haeghoort, a licentiate of the Classis 
of Amsterdam, Holland, succeeded Mr. Morgan. He came 
in answer to -a call sent by the Consistory to the above-men- 
tioned Classis, with the request that they would send them 
a suitable minister. Accompanying this call there is an in- 
teresting description of such a minister as the Consistory 
suppose would be acceptable to their people. He was to be 
a person of competent abilities, not more than thirty-five years 
of age, whether married or unmarried it mattered not. He 
was to be sound in the faith of the Refonned Church, well 
educated, exemplary and prudent. 

The call also contained the following stipulations: The 
pastor is to preach in two places. Freehold and Middletown, 
on alternate Sabbaths, the two meeting houses being "about 
an hour and a half's travel apart." He is to observe New 
Year's Day, Paas, Pinxter, Ascension, and Christmas Days, 
"according to the custom of a majority of the churches in 
this country." The Lord's Supper is to be administered 
quarterly and alternately in either church, the preparatory 
service having been held on the preceding Thursday. 

For such services the Consistory promise him the entire 
use of the parsonage and farm in Freehold, "on which in a 
short time the church will be placed, not far from the min- 
ister's house." They promise him annually seventy pounds 
good current money, in exact half yearly payments — a cus- 

38 



torn still in vogue. They also promise to repair the parsonage 
according to the Dominie's wishes, after his arrival, and like- 
wise to furnish him with a good riding horse — a custom now 
obsolete. The congregation is described as "five-quarters 
of an hour's travel in breadth, in the middle, and full three 
Dutch" or twelve English "miles in length." And the Con- 
sistory assure the Classis that if the minister they send is not 
accustomed to farming "he could let the farm for two-thirds 
of its yield, or hire a farmer for fifteen pounds, or by the 
assistance and instruction of friends he would be able in a 
few years to manage the farm," We know not which method 
the Dominie pursued. 

This call was signed by Jan Kowenhoven, Garret 
Schenck, Elbert Williamse, and Cornelius Wyckoflf, elders, 
and Dirk Barkalow, Hendrick Kip, Jan VanMater, and Wil- 
liam Covenhoven, deacons. It was moderated and attested 
by the Rev. Gaultherus DuBois, who seems to have been very 
much in the esteem and confidence of the people. He was 
pastor of the Collegiate Reformed Church of New York 
City. "He was more like a bishop," says Dr. DeWitt, "among 
the Dutch churches than the pastor of a single organization." 
Mr. Haeghoort, having accepted this call, was solemnly 
ordained by the laying on of hands, and installed pastor of 
the church of Freehold and Middletown by the Classis of 
Amsterdam, Holland. On the 9th of August, 1731, he was 
introduced to his charge by the Rev. Gaultherus DuBois, 
who preached a sermon on the occasion. ■ Mr. Haeghoort 
delivered his inaugural sermon in the afternoon of the same 
day, taking for his text Rom. i. 15: "As much as in me is 
I am ready to preach the gospel to you." He seems to have 
been a man of great respectability as a preacher, and to have 
enjoyed in a good degree the confidence and esteem of his 
people. His wife's name was Catherine de Loij, who came 
with him from Holland. Four years after his arrival, he 
resigned his call to become pastor of the Reformed Church 
at Second River, now Belleville. Essex County. N. J. There 
is on our records a minute signed by the Consistory, express- 

39 



ing their heartfelt sorrow under the dispensation of Provi- 
dence, by which they were so soon deprived of their pastor's 
faithful services, and their wishes that God would bless his 
labors in the future no less than in the past, and "that he 
might find himself no less beloved, to the honor of God's 
great name and to his own satisfaction." The last clause 
gently intimates that the Consistory thought him a little too 
ambitious. 

For fifteen years Mr. Haeghoort's relations to the Church 
at Second River were delightful and pleasant. Dissatisfac- 
tion then took the place of harmony and love. The church 
doors were closed against hlim, and he preached to a few 
friends from the steps of the church. His salary was with- 
held, and for so long a time that the pK>ssession of some 
property brought with him from Holland alone saved him 
from needing the very necessaries of life. A thorough Dutch- 
man, he maintained his ground, triumphed over his enemies, 
and continued the pastor of the Church until in 1776, when 
he died, and was buried within the walls of the church, im- 
mediately in front of the pulpit ; and there his remains are 
now awaiting the coming of the Lord and the general resur- 
rection. 

During the first year of Mr. Haeghoort's ministry, and 
previous to September, 1732, the congregation commenced 
the erection of a house of worship on the site we now occupy. 
They were so evenly divided in sentiment and desire that at 
a meeting called for deciding the location of the church, they 
agreed that the church should stand on the site, to which the 
first load of stone for building purposes was carted. It was 
late in the afternoon when the meeting adjourned, but Mr. 
Roeleflf Schenck, more frequently called Black Roelefif, im- 
mediately went home, hitched up his team, gathered the stones 
and carted them to the lot on which this building stands. 
That decided the matter. 

This RoelefT Schenck was a large, muscular, and very 
strong man. According to tradition, a professional prize- 
fighter, having heard of his strength, was desirous of testing 

40 



his physical endurance. For this purpose he came to see him. 
Roeleff was returning from the fields with his plow upon his 
shoulder when he met the stranger. Engaging in conversa- 
tion with him, he placed the plow upon the ground ; becoming 
deeply interested as the conversation advanced, he grasped the 
handle of the plow, and holding it out at arm's length, as we 
would a cane, pointed out with it the various localities of 
which he was speaking. The prizefighter looked on in utter 
amazement, when suddenly he remembered that he wished to 
see another man by the name of Schenck on important busi- 
ness, and started ofif to find him. 

The building which the congregation erected on the site 
to which Roelefif carted the stones was a good, substantial 
edifice, nearly as large as the one we now occupy. There 
were three windows on each side, and a large double arched 
door in the centre of the gable end facing the road. It had 
a steep, hip roof, surmounted by a small belfry, crowned with 
the four points of the compass and a large brass rooster. 
This finial is now the pioperty and is in the possession of Mr. 
Asher Holmes. There were galleries extending about three- 
fourths of the length of each side, and entirely across the 
front. The building was ceiled within with boards standing 
on end. The ceiling overhead met from each side in the 
centre, from which a large wooden ornament resembling an 
acorn was pendent. The pulpit was small, but quite high. It 
was reached by a 'narrow flight of stairs, and over it* hung a 
sounding board to give volume and depth to the minister's 
voice. For many years there were no pews in the building. 
The congregation sat on benches, the men around the wall, 
the women in the centre. Some used double chairs, such as 
were generally used in wagons in those days, and may occa- 
sionally be seen even now about old farmhouses. Some of 
the families would ride to church in these chairs, and then, 
taking them out of their wagons, would carry them into the 
church for use during service. Others, the aristocracy, I 
suppose, kept such seats especially for use in the sanctuary. 
A great many would ride to church on horseback. One horse 

41 



generally carried a man and his wife, and very frequently 
the baby also. Carriages were unknown. The first family 
carriage in this vicinity was owned by Mr. John H. Smock, 
and was purchased about ninety-seven years ago. Farm wagons 
without springs were thought to be comfortable. There were 
no means for heating the church. Stoves were not in ex- 
istence. Private houses were made wann by the use of large 
fireplaces, but churches were built without chimneys. The 
ladies brought with them small foot-stoves, which kept their 
feet warm, while good homespun cloth in ample folds pro- 
tected their persons. 

"O ! the pleasant days of old, which so often people praise! 
True, they wanted all the luxuries that grace our modern days: 
Bare floors were strewed with rushes — the walls let in the cold ; 
O ! how they must have shivered in those pleasant days of old." 

In this building the congregation worshiped more than 
ninety years. It was taken down in 1826, to make room for 
the house we are now occupying. Mr. Haeghoort continued 
the pastor of the Church only four years. He baptized 123 
infants, and when resigning his call, August 17, 1735, left 
119 persons in the communion of the Church, 67 of whom 
were in the congregation of Freehold and 52 in that of Mid- 
dletown. 

IX. The Pastor from Sweden, the Rev. 
Revnhard Erickzon 

The year following the resignation of Mr. Haeghoort, the 
Rev. Reynhard Erickzon was recommended to the Consis- 
tory as one who would probably be found an acceptable pas- 
tor by the Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen* of Rari- 
tan. The result is thus recorded in the handwriting of Mr. 
Frclinofhuvsen : 



* The first minister of the Reformed Church in Central New Jersey, 1720. 
Ciilbcrt Tennent, Georce Whitfield, and Jonathan Edwards speak of him as one of 
the preat divines of the American Church. He was the great-Rrandfather of the 
late Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, who for many years was president of Rutgers 
College." — Sec Corzfin's Manual of Rcf. Ch., p. 87. 

42 



"In the year 1736, in December, a meeting of the Consistory was 
held at Freehold of the Navasink, at which were read the call of the 
Rev. Reynhard Erickzon, and his honorable dismission and certificate 
from the congregation at Schenectady. The which certificate being 
found lawful and constitutional, the Rev. R. Erickzon was received and 
recognized as pastor and teacher of the congregation of Freehold and 
Middletown, by the Rev. Consistory of that place. 

"T. J. Frelinghuysen, President Pro Tern." 

During the first twelve years of Mr. Erickzon's ministry, 
after which for some cause the record ceases, 80 were added 
to the communion of the Church. He baptized 708 infants. 
On the 20th of May he administered the rite to Garitje and 
Jantje, twin daughters of WiUiam Cowenhoven and EHza- 
beth Aumack. When recording the baptism of his own son 
the Dominie is very expHcit in stating the time of his birth. 
The record reads: "Wilem, born the 12th of September, 
1737, at ten o'clock in the morning." He was the first pastor 
of the Church to keep a record of marriages, 44 of which he 
solemnized during the first ten years of his ministry, when the 
record ceases. The first marriage recorded is that of Jo- 
hannes Langstraat and Antje Kouwenhoven, December 17, 
1736. The records show that it was not as easy to get mar- 
ried in those days as it is at present. The law made it nec- 
essary for the persons desirous of being joined in wedlock 
to have their names entered on the church register, together 
with the places of their birth and their present residences, 
and public notice given of their purpose three or four weeks 
before the marriage ceremony was performed. Failing in 
this they were obUged to procure a special license from the 
Governor of the Colony. An extract from the records may 
be of interest to those who are contemplating matrimony : 

''In 1740, October 4th, there was entered and published the mutual 
purpose of marriage of Jan Sutveen, a young man born and living in 
Freholt, and Pieternella Stout, a young woman born in Middletowne 
and living in Freholt, and October 30th they were married." 

"In 1741, Aug. I2th, Roelef Couwenhoven, a young man, and Jan- 
netje Hendrikzon, a young woman, with his Excellencies License were 
married." 

43 



The license they procured — following the form then in 
use, as I find it in an old issue of the New York "Gazette" — 
probably read as follows: 

"By his Excellency, Lewis Morris, Esq., Captain-General and Gov- 
ernor-in-Chief of the Province of New Jersey in America, Vice-Admiral 
of the same, and Colonel in his Majesty's army, to any Protestant min- 
ister : Whereas there is a mutual purpose of marriage between Roelef 
Couwenhoven of Freehold, Monmouth County, of the one party, and 
Jannetje Hendrikzon of the same place, spinster, of the other party, for 
which they have desired my license, and have given bond upon condi- 
tions that neither of them have any lawful let or impediment of pre- 
contract, affinity or consanguinity to hinder their being joined in the 
holy bonds of matrimony ; these are therefore to authorize and empower 
you to join the said Roelef Couwenhoven and Jannetje Hendrikzon in 
the holy bonds of matrimony, and them to pronounce man and wife. 

"Given under my hand and prerogative seal at Kingsbury, the i6th 
day of July, in the 15th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George 
the 2d, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, 
Defender of the Faith, Annoque Domini, 1741. 

"( ) Sect. Lewis Morris." 

Such a license was quite expensive, and therefore by far 
the greater number preferred to have their names entered on 
the church register, and their purpose of marriage published 
from the pulpit, although the expectant bride, if present at 
the time, w^as suffused with blushes, or, if not very pious 
and unable to pass such a trying ordeal, denied herself for a 
time the privilege of attending the services of the sanctuary. 
Customs may change, but woman remains the same. 

Dominie Erickzon was a Swede. He came to America 
in 1725. He was then about twenty-five years of age. He 
sailed from Holland with his brother and sister in the ship 
"King George," Captain Saul Payton. He was first settled 
at Hackensack, Paramas, and Schraalenbergh, where his la- 
bors were very greatly blessed of God, and converts were 
multiplied. After a three years' ministry he removed to Sche- 
nectady, and there also was cheered and greatly encouraged 
by constant and growing accessions to the communion of the 
Church. 

For a portion of the time he ministered at stated periods 

44 



to the people of Schoharie, in the Old Dutch Church, of 
which, in after years, my father was pastor, and which still 
stands, although unoccupied for many years, at the northern 
end of Schoharie village, a memento of the Revolution, and 
associated with the memories of my own childhood. 

When entering upon his labors here, Mr. Erickzon was 
in the prime of life, an experienced pastor, and a successful 
minister. He was a man of considerable intellectual ability, 
highly esteemed by his ministerial associates, and influential 
in the counsels of the Church. He was associated with the 
Frelinghuysens, Goetschius, Hardenbergh, and Westerlo in 
preparing young men for the gospel ministry. Johannes 
Schuyler, who for a long time was the only pastor of the 
Reformed Church in Schoharie County, was one of his pupils. 
The period of Mr. Erickzon's ministry was one of confu- 
sion and high party spirit throughout the Dutch churches 
— occasioned by a difference of opinion concerning the main- 
tenance or the dissolution of the connection subsisting be- 
tween the churches of America and the Classis of Amster- 
dam, Holland. From the first settlement of the country the 
churches had looked to this Classis for clerical supplies. Min- 
isters were ordained by them with the approbation of the 
Synod of North Holland, and then sent to America to preach 
the gospel. The churches here were denied the privilege of 
granting license to their own young men. To be ordained, 
a man was compelled to journey to Holland. Tliis arrange- 
ment, because of its great inconvenience as the churches in- 
creased, became burdensome and odious to a large portion 
of the church membership. Those in favor of its abandon- 
ment, and the organization of an independent Classis in this 
country, were called the Coetiis, while those who desired to 
remain under the care of the Classis of Amsterdam were 
called the Conferentia. The controversy was bitter, fierce, 
and long. Some congregations were rent in twain, and evil 
passions aroused, which issued in personal animosity and 
hatred. The conferentia party was the most violent, but of 
both we can say : 

45 



'"Opponents of that stubborn sort were they, 
Who, if they once grow fond of an opinion, 
They call it honor, honesty, and faith. 
And sooner part with life than let it go." 

Dr. Strong tells us, in his history of Flatbush, from which 
locality a large number of our Monmouth County families 
immigrated, that on one occasion two of these ecclesiastical 
opponents meeting on the highway in their wagons, they re- 
fused to turn out for one another. The horses were stopped 
head to head. For a while the two men gazed at each other 
furiously. Each then deliberately took out his pipe, and fill- 
ing it with tobacco, commenced to smoke — and there they sat 
and smoked and smoked. Their pipes grew hot, but still they 
smoked. — How long I know not. It may be that at last their 
pipes proved a calumet of peace. Tobacco is soothing. A 
poet has said that : 

"Savage warriors, softened by its breath. 
Unbind the captive hate had doom'd to death." 

But from what is known of Dutch perseverance, we can 
probably say of these conferentia and coetus antagonists, as 
it is written in song: 

"If they are not dead, 
They are smoking there still." 

Mr. Erickzon belonged to the coetus party. Both he and 
his elder, Mr. J. Sutphin, subscribed the articles of organi- 
zation in 1738. At the first meeting of the coetus, nine years 
after, in 1747, Mr. Erickzon was present with his elder, Mat- 
thew Pieterson, and was chosen president. His name, as 
such, appears on the commission granted by the coetus party, 
in 1759, to the Rev. Theodorus Frelinghuysen* to solicit 



^^.'^ ^^'35 the son of Re^'. Tlieodoriis Jacobus FrcliriKhuysen. TTc sailed from 
New ^'ork October lo, 1759, to fulfil his commission, but he never returned. 
riiere is a mystery concerning his fate. The plans thus inaugurated were not 
consummated until sixteen years later, when Queen's, now Rutgers, College 
was chartered. — Coruin's Manual. 



46 



funds in Holland for founding a Dutch Academy or Semi- 
nary in America, "in which should be taught both the arts 
and theology." In this we learn the origin of the college 
and seminary at New Brunswick, which have furnished the 
Reformed Church with the great majority of her ministers. 

Toward the close of his pastorate, because of some per- 
sonal offence, Mr. Erickzon joined the conferentia party, but 
never became a very active partisan. He was married twice. 
The first time in 1726, at Hackensack, to Maria Provost. 
The second time, while settled here, in 1736, to Sarah Luy- 
ster, the widow of Rulif Brokaw, and daughter of Johannes 
Luyster and Lucretia Brower, who resided near Middletown 
village. In the latter part of his ministry — which lasted for 
twenty-seven years — he became a victim to the drinking cus- 
toms of the day. The Consistory made out charges against 
him, withheld his salary and excluded him from the pulpit. 
He continued to reside in the parsonage until 1770, six years 
after his successor was called. He then removed to New 
Brunswick, and resided with his daughter, Mrs. Van Norden, 
He died soon after this, and his widow returned to Middle- 
town, her native place. His remains, it is said, were also 
conveyed to Monmouth County for burial. If so, he lies in 
an unknown grave, though worthy of being honored as one 
of the fathers of the American Reformed Church. An ex- 
cellent portrait of him is in the possession of Rev. Garret C. 
Schenck. 

In justice to the memory of Dominie Morgan and Dom- 
inie Erickzon, both of whom, when advanced in life, were 
"overtaken with a fault," through the drinking customs of 
the day, it seems to me necessary to draw the veil from a 
portion of history I would gladly overlook — the universal use 
in that day of intoxicating liquors. During the eighteenth 
century every family used wine or rum more freely and fre- 
quently than they now use tea or coffee. It was a breach of 
etiquette not to offer your guests some sort of liquor, a 
greater breach for the guest to refuse the offered cup. The 
dominie, in visiting his congregation, was expected to drink 

47 



at every house he entered. Those still living have told me of 
their giving great offence to Christian families, when they 
first entered the ministry, by refusing to drink with them. 
Farmers thought it impossible to get through harvest with- 
out providing their hired men with plenty of rum. Wine 
flowed freely, not only at weddings, but even at funerals. 
Many who entered the ministry, not more than fifty years 
ago, were denounced and persecuted because of their teach- 
ing the necessity of total abstinence. The wonder is not, 
that now and then, in advanced life, a minister of the gospel 
fell before the vice. The wonder is that the Church itself 
was not utterly destroyed. Nothing but the omnipotent grace 
of the Lord Jesus Christ saved it from annihilation. It be- 
comes us to send on high loud hallelujahs of thanksgiving to 
God for the great change wrought in opinion and sentiment 
and custom, through the power of the gospel, and to cherish 
toward those who, having fought boldly and manfully for 
God in the prime of life, but who through the weakness of 
old age unwittingly went astray, that charity without which 
our own character is nothing. The Captain of our Salva- 
tion leads many a wounded, crippled soldier to glory. 

The venerable Dr. James S. Canon has related an inci- 
dent that occurred not long after the Consistory of this 
Church denied Dominie Erickzon the use of the pulpit. The 
Dominie was in company, one evening, at the house of a 
friend in the city of New York, with one Eirens Van Der 
Speigel, who seems to have been — 

"A creature of one mighty sense, 
Concentrated impudence." 

In the course of the evening they chanced to converse 
upon the duties of the ministry. Mr. Erickzon dwelt much 
on their arduous nature. Mr. Van Der Speigel thought there 
was much to be done in the way of visiting, attending funerals, 
and other pastoral lalx^rs, but as to prcachinrr, that was noth- 
ing. Mr. Erickzon thought he knew very little of what he 
affirmed. But \'an Der Speigel said he thought he could 

48 



himself preach as good a sermon as any other man. Mr. 
Erickzon repUed, "I would like to see you make the attempt." 
"I am willing to do so," Mr. Van Der Speigel said, "if you 
will give me an opportunity." It was then agreed that the 
same party should meet at a private house, on a certain even- 
ing, and that Mr. Van Der Speigel should preach. The even- 
ing arrived. The party assembled, and by private invita- 
tions and the earnest solicitations of Mr. Erickzon, had been 
swelled to quite a large audience ; a hymn was sung and the 
Dominie requested to lead in prayer, which he did, and then 
took his seat directly in front of the speaker. Mr. Van Der 
Speigel took his text, "Be not drunk with wine wherein is 
excess," and proceeded in a bold and eloquent manner to de- 
liver a discourse which had been previously delivered by a 
minister in Holland, before his Classis, at the deposition of a 
minister for intemperance, and which Mr. Van Der Speigel 
had committed thoroughly to memory. As he proceeded to 
speak of the evils of intemperance in general, Mr. Erickzon 
became uneasy in his seat. As he went on to speak of its 
aggravations in professors of religion, Mr. Erickzon began 
to wriggle exceedingly, turning now one side and now the 
other to the speaker, and glancing furtively around upon 
the assembly. Mr. Van Der Speigel at length came to the 
main branch of his discourse, "the evil influence of intem- 
perance in a minister of the gospel." Mr. Erickzon's cholor 
rose higher and his position in his chair was changed more 
frequently, until the application of the discourse becoming too 
pointed to be longer endured, he sprang to his feet and with 
a significant gesture, similar to that of a man in whipping his 
horse, he exclaimed, in Dutch. "I can no longer bear it and 
I will no longer bear it." He was as good as his word ; 
he abandoned excess ; he became temperate. Both he and 
Dominie Morgan, though they fell, like Noah, like Noah rose 
again victoriously, and triumphed through the grace of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. A cloud sometimes obscures the sun, 
but after a little while the sun shines again as brightly as 
ever ; and so the lives of these two men, obscured for a mo- 

49 



ment by a passing cloud, shine out at the last brightly and 
gloriously. Their foes were mighty, the conflict was fierce, 
but they came off as conquerors through Him who loved 
them; and receiving the crown, heard their victory pro- 
claimed in the blessed words, "Well done, enter into the joy 
of your Lord." 

X. The First American Pastor, the 
Rev, Benjamin DuBois 

In 1764, the same year in which Mr. Erickzon's ministry 
closed. Rev. Benjamin DuBois, a young man, just licensed by 
the American Classis to preach the gospel, was called to oc- 
cupy the vacant pulpit. There is no record to be found of 
his installation and ordination. 

He was born at Pittsgrove, Salem County, N. J., March 
30, 1739, and was baptized in the Presbyterian church there 
in which his father was an elder. He was the son of Lewis 
DuBois, a lineal descendant of the French Huguenots of 
New Paltz.* His mother's name was Margaret Jansen, who 
was born in Kingston, of Low Dutch descent. He was edu- 
cated at Poughkeepsie, and studied theology with Rev. Jo- 
hannes H. Goetschius, of Hackensack, N. J. A short time 
after his settlement here, he married Phemertje Denise, the 
daughter of Tunis Denise and Francynthe Hendrickson, of 
Freehold, a woman of intelligence and activity, sprightly, 
prudent, and pious. They had ten children, four sons and 
six daughters, all of whom were married, were highly re- 
spected for their virtuous principles, and became members in 
full communion of the Church of Christ. Four of them set- 
tled in this locality, and their descendants are very largely 
represented here to-day, among those who are active in the 
work of the Lord. When Mr. DuBois commenced his min- 



* Rev. Benjamin DuBois was the great-grandson of Lewis DuBois and Cath- 
erine Blemchan, Huguenots, who emigrated from Manhcim in the Paltz in 1661, 
and with eleven other French refugees obtained a patent for a grant of land in 
the Wallkill N'allcy, near Kingston, N. Y., known as the Paltz Patent. He is the 
ancestor of the Hon. Garret A. Hobart, LL.D., \'ice-President of the United 
States, 1897-99. 

50 



istry, the coetus and conferentia difficulties were at their 
height. He had preached but a short time when he dehvered 
a sermon which greatly displeased his predecessor, Mr, Erick- 
zon, who still resided in the congregation, and then consorted 
with the conferentia party. The congregation was divided 
in opinion and sentiment. The controversy grew more and 
more intense for years. The conferentia party became ex- 
tremely violent. They refused to attend religious services 
conducted by Mr. DuBois. They even went so far as to call 
for the perfomiance of the appropriate duties of their pas- 
tor by one of the ministers of their own party from a neigh- 
boring congregation. A minute is entered on the records of 
the Church, from which it appears that in 1770 the Rev, 
Isaac Rysdyck, pastor of the churches at Fishkill, Hopewell, 
and New Hackensack, a violent partisan and one of the most 
prominent of the conferentia party, visited the congregation, 
and on the i6th of September baptized five children at Mid- 
dletown. A few days after he baptized another child, and 
together with the elders of the Church at Middletown re- 
ceived five persons into the communion of the Church, on 
confession of their faith. At this time, it is said, to the honor 
of the congregation, the church was closed against Mr. Rys- 
dyck, who was compelled to preach in a barn, somewhere in 
Middletown. At this time he also administered the sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper to the conferentia party. A more un- 
warrantable interference with the duties of a pastor, or a 
greater breach of ministerial etiquette, it is difficult to im- 
agine. But the disturbing forces were happily quieted by Mr. 
DuBois. Three years after the unpleasant occurrence he 
entered the names of the persons thus received, and of the 
baptized children, upon the church register, with the follow- 
ing explanation: "Names of the children baptized, with the 
names of their respective parents, also the names of the mem- 
bers who were received by a confession of their faith, in the 
congregation at Middletown, by Dominie Isaac Rysdyck, Sept. 
10, 1770 — being a time of the differences in the congrega- 
tion — the which persons after the time of union, by me, Dom- 

4 51 



inie Benjamin DuBois, were entered on the church register 
of the combined Reformed congregations of Freehold and 
Middletown." * 

Tradition has preserved a domestic scene, which shows 
that, although Dominie DuBois and Dominie Erickzon dif- 
fered in relation to the question of the coetus, they did not 
permit their differences to disturb friendly relations between 
themselves and their families. They were intimate acquaint- 
ances for many years. One time, while on a visit at the old 
parsonage, we are told that Mr. Van Nordfen, who married 
the daughter of Dominie Erickzon, chanced to meet Mr. 
David Van Der Veer, who had married the daughter of Dom- 
inie DuBois. While conversing with each other, Mr. Van 
Norden, pointing to a particular place on the floor of the 
room in which they were sitting, said, "That is the place 
where I stood when I married my wife." "And that is the 
very spot where I married mine," replied Mr. Van Der 
Veer. "But I," said Mr. Van Norden, "married a dominie's 
daughter." "Well," said Mr. Van Der Veer, "so did I marry 
a dominie's daughter." "But this was my wife's home," said 
Mr. Van Norden, "and her father joined us in marriage." 
"And this," said Mr. Van Der Veer, "was my wife's home, 
and her father joined us in marriage." They both thought, 
as I think, having enjoyed the same privilege, that there is 
nothing to be compared with marrying a dominie's daughter, 
unless it be the marrying of somebody else's daughter. 

During this period of Mr. DuBois's ministry, a new house 
of worship was erected at Middletown, on the. place where 
the old one stood. The subscription for defraying the nec- 
essary expenses l>ears date February the 28th, 1764. This was 
in the midst of the coetus difficulties ; and the decided con- 
ferentia principles of the congregation are manifested by the 
peculiar wording of the subscription. It is expressly stipu- 



* Of this Rev. Isaac Rysdyck, Dr. Brownlee says: "He was in his day consid- 
ered the most learned theologian in the Dutch Church." Dr. Kip, in his history 
of the Fishkill Church, says that Dominie Rysdyck "helonged to the conferentia 
party, but never manifested much bitterness of spirit." Tlie facts I have related 
speak for themselves. 

52 



lated, "The Church for which we subscribe is to be the Na- 
tional Church of the High Synod of Dort, estabHshed in the 
years 1618 and 1619." On this paper we find the names of 
6T) subscribers. The amount of their subscription is 335 
pounds ; 14 pounds is the largest sum subscribed, and to 
the credit of the ladies, who are generally foremost in good 
works, when they have means at their own disposal, it is the 
subscription of "Mrs. Jane Schenck, widow." The house of 
worship thus erected was known for many years as the Red 
Meeting House. It corresponded in size with the one at Free- 
hold, and was very much such a building. It was used for 
divine worship until the erection of the Holmdel church. 

In 1785 the church building at Freehold was repaired 
and improved. A chimney was built and a large stove pur- 
chased. The rude benches which had formerly been used 
were taken out and replaced with pews. To meet this ex- 
pense the pews were sold at public auction. The terms of 
the sale are carefully penned in the handwriting of the pastor. 
From these it appears all right and title to a pew should cease 
so soon as a pew-holder or his heirs should cease to pay for 
the support of the minister. Preference was also given to 
certain persons, on account of extraordinary services ren- 
dered by them, over and above the rest of the congregation. 
These favored ones were Garret Cowenhoven, Esq., John 
Tyle, Benjamin Van Cleef, Cornelius Cowenhoven, and Wil- 
liam Cowenhoven. To these persons it was granted that they 
should have, as of their own right, the choice of each one a 
pew, to be held by them on the same tenns with others. The 
seats in the gallery were not overlooked. Concerning them it 
was "Resolved, The seats on the gallery shall be free for any: 
only the subscribers and singers shall have the preference to 
seat themselves wherever they choose, so as may suit best for 
carr}'ing on the different parts of music." 

There was considerable contention about this time in re- 
lation to the singing. The younger portion of the congrega- 
tion, who conducted this part of the worship, were desirous 
of using new tunes, which the older people could not sing 

53 



nor enjoy. The dissatisfaction thus occasioned, and to a cer- 
tain extent very reasonably occasioned, assumed an aspect so 
serious as to demand the attention of the Consistory. On the 
26th of February, 1787, a long list of resolutions were passed, 
reviewing the whole matter in an original manner, and con- 
cluding as follows: 

"Resolved, That the Consistory, not wishing to Lord it over God's 
heritage, will not with stern command say to our congregations, you 
shall or you shall not improve nor practice in any collection of Psalm 
tunes whatever. We leave the Christian where God hath left him, to 
the liberty of his own conscience, to sing in private what Psalm or Psalm 
tune he please, and when he sings in consort, we recommend him to sing 
in order and decently, as the Apostle would have all things should be 
done." 

The contention respecting the change from Dutch to En- 
glish preaching commenced with the settlement of Mr. Du- 
Bois. The English language was introduced in the Freehold 
congregation during the first year of his ministry without 
much opposition. But not so at Middletown. In that con- 
gregation there were some who yielded a ver>' reluctant con- 
sent, and a few who bitterly opposed it to the very last. At 
a meeting of the Consistory in 1766, held at Freehold, it was 
"Resolved, That those who wish to enjoy the services of our 
minister in the English language, in our church at Middle- 
town, shall have their request to the half of the service in that 
congregation." About twenty years after this, in 1785, it was 
resolved in a Church council at Middletown that the Dutch 
and English preaching shall be in proportion -to Dutch and 
English subscription for salary. The following year it was 
ascertained, in compliance with this resolution, that the pro- 
portion of Dutch service should not be more than three Sab- 
baths a year, and it was left to the option of the pastor 
to make an address in English after the Dutch service. It 
was also "Resolved, That if for the want of Dutch singers it 
seem expedient, the pastor, if he choose, may have English 
singing and preach in Dutch." The dominie, I am confident, 
enjoyed the preaching in Dutch. 

54 



The English language was a foreign tongue. The story 
is told that, several years ago, an aged lady, who when young 
dwelt in this vicinity, but who had been a resident of another 
State for a long time, was asked if she remembered any of the 
Schencks of Monmouth County, N. J. "Oh, yes," she replied, 
"I remember one who had a child baptized by the name of 
De La Fayette." "What makes you remember that?" her 
questioner inquired. "Because," she answered, "Dominie Du- 
Bois, the good man, stuttered so, and made such a fuss in 
pronouncing the name, I have never forgotten it." 

The Revolutionary War was the occasion of much disturb- 
ance and difficulty in the congregation. The county of Mon- 
mouth, from its peculiar position, was especially exposed. It 
was liable not only to frequent raids from foreign enemies, 
but suffered, it is said, to a great extent from the Refugees, 
the lawless Tories who took up arms against their former 
neighbors. 

Families were divided in sentiment ; fathers and sons took 
different sides. At one time the Refugees gained the ascen- 
dency and held possession of Freehold village for a week or 
ten days. They were driven out by the Whigs. Thirteen 
were executed at different times on a gallows that stood in 
the vicinity of the Court House. Many were sent as pris- 
oners to Hagerstown. The Refugees were so annoying that 
the inhabitants favorable to the popular cause bound them- 
selves together, for the purpose of defence, by articles of 
agreement. 

The names of nearly all who composed this congregation 
are signed to these articles. The name of Mr. DuBois is not 
to be found, but it is probably because he was a minister of 
the gospel. He frequently shouldered his gun and his knap- 
sack, and went out in his turn on patrol "like a pack-horse," 
as was sneeringly said by a noted Tory of his congregation. 
He is said to have been perfectly fearless. One day, when 
out in a skirmish, he was so eager to press upon the enemy 
he could not be kept in line, and Colonel Holmes was obliged 
to make a different disposition of his troops to prevent him 

55 



from being singled out and shot down. Returning home from 
one of his military expeditions with a friend, they beheld at 
a distance a party of British passing by ; they were too far 
ofif to do them any injury, but the Dominie laid his gun on 
an old fence, deliberately took aim and fired, remarking pleas- 
antly, "They will not be able to say, after this, that I have 
never fired at the enemy." He frequently commended the 
Patriot cause in his sermons and invariably made their strug- 
gle for liberty the subject of his public prayers. 

The difficulties and troubles we have mentioned bear elo- 
quent testimony to the Christian character of Mr. DuBois. 
Dwelling among a people of discordant views on a variety of 
subjects, an officious neighboring minister, interfering with 
his labors and fomenting discord ; the worst passions of the 
human heart, stirred by the exciting political issues of the 
day, war raging and the people of his charge sympathizing 
with opposing armies and factions, he must have been a man 
of more than ordinary wisdom, meekness, prudence, and dis- 
cretion, inasmuch as he maintained his ground and conducted 
himself in such a manner as to win the confidence and esteem 
of those who differed from him. He continued the pastor of 
this very people for sixty-three years. 

In 1817 he was relieved from the active duties of the 
ministry by the labors of a colleague, but he was never de- 
clared Emeritus, and the pastoral relation was dissolved only 
by his death. He was the settled pastor of this Church for 
sixty-three years. That is by far the longest pastorage in the 
history of the Reformed Church in America. It is not proba- 
ble that any minister has remained the pastor of the same 
people for a longer time. Very few continue so long as did 
he, fifty-three years, in the discharge of the full round of 
ministerial duties. 

He received 166 persons into the communion of the 
Church, baptized 1,283 infants, married 725 couples. The 
last marriage ceremony he performed was September 28, 
1818. when he united in marriage Denise Denise and Altie 
Hulse. 

56 



In recording baptisms he inaugurated a custom, continued 
through the ministry of Mr. Marcelhis, of designating certain 
parents as "not responsible" or as "not in" the baptismal en- 
gagement. The first of these is very curious. It reads, "1783, 
April 6th, Benjamin McDannel, not in covenant, Mary Eas- 
lick, his wife, in covenant and deceased." Well versed in 
the Scriptures, the Dominie knew that the child of a believer 
was born in the Church and belonged to the Church, and al- 
though its mother had gone to the heavenly home on high, 
ought to be consecrated to God in holy baptism. The name 
of Mary Cowenhoven is recorded as sf)onsor or Godmother 
at this baptism. It was not a rare thing to have sponsors in 
that day. The custom long ago became obsolete, none ap- 
pearing later than 1804. 

Dominie DuBois was the first to record the election of 
Kirken Masters for each of the churches, a term he after- 
ward translates "Saxtons." They were elected annually, and 
only once or twice was the same person chosen for succes- 
sive years. The services they rendered were entirely gratui- 
tous. The position was considered one of dignity and honor, 
The first whose names are recorded were chosen May 16, 
1765. For Middletown, Garret Hendrickson ; for Freehold, 
Cornelius Cowenhoven, son of one Albert Cowenhoven. The 
last whose names are recorded were chosen May 15, 1817. 
For Middletown, Peter Smock, son of one Roelifif Smock ; 
for Freehold, Elisha Schenck. In 1815 this office at Free- 
hold was occupied by Mr. Peter Van Dorn, whose death oc- 
curred only a few months ago. 

During the ministry of Mr. DuBois, Communion Sab- 
baths were called Great Meeting days. The audience was 
larger than at any other time. Every communicant, if pos- 
sible, was present. The services were long. Many brought 
a lunch to eat between the morning and afternoon sessions. 
It was a time of reunion and friendly cheer, as well as of holy 
communion with God. But this is not all. There were in 
those days, as now there are, those who improved every op- 
portunity to make a few pennies. There was in front of the 

57 



old church a large chestnut tree, and under that tree on Great 
Meeting days there was always to be seen a man with a 
wagon offering for sale cake and small beer. Nor were cus- 
tomers lacking. After the sermon the great majority of those 
who were not communicants were in the habit of leaving the 
church and thought it no harm to refresh themselves with the 
offered cake and beer. There are those now living who can 
remember that as children they beguiled the time of service 
by feeling of the pennies in their pockets with which they ex- 
pected to treat themselves at the small beer wagon when the 
sermon closed. 

The Sabbath was also most frequently chosen as a wed- 
ding day. Friends were invited from far and near and a great 
feast made. The Dutch have always been proverbial for their 
hospitality. So frequent were Sunday weddings, not only 
here, but generally throughout the land, that both Synod and 
Classis thought it necessary to condemn the custom, and I 
learn from a minute in the records of the Church that from 
the pulpit Dominie DuBois expressed his disapproval of Sun- 
day weddings, and exhorted the people "not to marry on the 
Lord's day but in case of necessity." 

Funerals also were attended with a large amount of im- 
necessary labor. There was much cooking and feasting. All 
the friends were expected to return to the house and partake 
of a good meal. Sunday, of all days, was considered the best 
for these funeral ceremonies, which not infrequently were 
attended with disorder. Such things seem to us to be highly 
improper. But we should not forget that our views are 
clearer, and our ideas more exalted, simply because of the 
influence of the Church our ancestors maintained, and our 
instruction in the truth, which for us they perpetuated. 

A minute of the Consistory, which touchingly portrays the 
Dominie's love for his wife, and his desire to make happy 
the closing years of her life, bears date December i6, I795- 
It contains an agreement between himself and the Consistory, 
that if Mrs. DuBois should survive him, "she should remain 
in the full use and quiet possession of the parsonage for the 

58 



\> 



term of two years." The action of the Consistory, in 1817, 
settled an annuity of $150 upon both the Dominie and his 
wife, the benefit of which Mrs. DuBois enjoyed until ninety- 
six years of age, when she peacefully and quietly entered the 
home on high. Her remains were interred by the side of her 
husband's in front of the church.* 

Mr. DuBois was not a man of worldly ambition, but one 
who sought to glorify God and be faithful to his trust. Re- 
tiring and modest, he lived and labored among his own peo- 
ple. But little is known of his public life. That little, how- 
ever, is not without interest. On the 7th of May, 1771, he 
was present at a meeting held at Hackensack, for the purpose 
of settling the location of Rutgers College. Two places de- 
sired the distinction and honor, Hackensack and New Bruns- 
wick. By a small majority of three, it was carried in favor 
of New Brunswick. Mr. DuBois voted thus, as he always 
did, with the party of progress, independence, and liberty, led 
by the Rev. Dr. Jacob R. Hardenbergh, who became the first 
president of the college, and who was the great-grandfather of 
your present pastor. To me it is not the least of the precious 
memories of the past that frequently )^our ancestors and mine 
labored together, as we are laboring together, for the promo- 
tion of God's glory. 

In 1777, Mr. DuBois, with his elder, Mr. Aart Sutphin, 
was present at the first meeting of the General Synod of the 
Reformed Church in America ; and subsequently with the 
elder, Mr. Tunis Denise, signed the articles of agreement 
which formed the Dutch Churches of America into one ec- 
clesiastical body, June 18, 1772. At the special session of the 
Synod of 1786, of which Synod ]\Ir. DuBois was clerk, "the 
Reverend Body was opened," we are told, "with a solemn and 
earnest prayer by the clerk. Rev. Benjamin DuBois ; the presi- 
dent, Dr. Jacob R. Hardenbergh, being as yet absent." 

Fervent piety, rather than intellectual ability, was his dis- 
tinguishing characteristic. His ministry was faithful and suc- 



For inscription on the tomb of Mr. DuBois see Appendix. 

59 



cessful, his sermons sound, evangelical and practical, his 
preaching Scriptural, his zeal for his work so ardent that he 
kept on in very advanced life, until his bodily strength would 
no longer support him under its exhausting influence. He 
frequently fainted in the pulpit. In person he was of medium 
size, with pleasant features, and jet black eyes. He wore 
small clothes and a large wig, w'hich by reason of long use 
had turned from white to yellow. A few still remember his 
appearance, the large spectacles he wore,* and his solemn 
manner of entering the pulpit. He always paused at the foot 
of the pulpit steps, and placing his hat before his eyes, bowed 
his head in silent prayer before proceeding to take his seat. 
A few years previous to the close of his life, he removed from 
the parsonage to reside with his son-in-law, Mr. David G. 
Van Der Veer. A short time after the dwelling was burned, 
and all the books, private papers and letters, together with the 
furniture belonging to the Dominie, were consumed, a loss to 
the historian and to all who are desirous of honoring his mem- 
ory. He died August 21, 1827, thereby receiving the fulfil- 
ment of the promise, "Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full 
age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." He 
was interred immediately in front of the church. The marble 
slab on his tomb bears this inscription : 

"In memory of Rev. Benjamin DuBois, who departed this life Au- 
gust 2ist, 1827, aged 88 years, 4 months and 11 days." 

"He was Pastor of the United Dutch Church of Freehold and Mid- 
dletown 52 years. 

"In his deportment he set a worthy example to his flock. In his 
preaching he was sound, faithful and affectionate. 

"He lived in peace, in peace he died. 
His Master's glory near his heart. 
He preached of Christ and none beside, 
And with him now enjoys his part." 

His funeral services were very largely attended. Rev. 



• The spectacles were exhibited to the audience. The glasses are set in ivory, 
so discolored from ape as to look like box wood. They are perfectly round, 
seven-eighths of an inch in diameter. The bows are steel, very Ireavy; each glass, 
with the ivory rim and steel bow, is one and a half inches in diameter. 

60 



Samuel A. Van Vranken officiated on the occasion, taking 
for his text St. John 5, 35 : "He was a bright and a shining 
Hght." 

The Classis of New Brunswick, in session a short time 
after his decease, when informed of the death of their aged 
brother, caused the following minute to be placed on their 
records : 

"The Classis, sensible of the worth of the venerable deceased, Re- 
solved, to record this testimonial of regard to the memory of the Rev. 
Benjamin DuBois, and they hereby assert their veneration for the uni- 
form consistency of his walk and conversation, and the uninterrupted 
fidelity with which he discharged the duties of his ministerial office. 
'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.' " 

XL The Pastorate of the Rev. Samuel A. Van 
Vranken 

In 1817 the Classis of New Brunswick, in answer to an 
application from the Consistory of the Reformed Church of 
Freehold and Middletown for ministerial supplies, because of 
the infirmities of their pastor, appointed three young men, who 
had just been licensed, to occupy the pulpit ; one was after- 
ward known as Rev. Isaac N. Wyckoff, D.D., for many years 
pastor of the Middle Reformed Church at Albany. Another 
was afterward known as Rev. John Ludlow, D.D., LL.D., 
Professor of Hebrew, Ecclesiastical History, Church Gov- 
ernment and Pastoral Theology. The third was afterward 
known as Rev. Samuel A. Van Vranken, D.D., Professor of 
Didactic Theology. Each of the young men, if my informa- 
tion is correct, discharged the duties of their appointment. If 
that was the case, a church seldom has such a brilliant array 
of latent talent among its candidates. 

The minds of the people were not at all distracted. The 
last of the young men to display his gifts was Mr. John Lud- 
low, who occupied the pulpit, it is said, the second Sabbath of 
August, and in September the Consistory presented a call to 
the Rev. Mr. Van Vranken. His ordination and installation 

61 



as pastor took place in the Freehold church the first Sabbath 
of April, 1818. The sermon was preached by Rev. John L. 
Zabriskie — Revs. James S. Canon, John S. Vredenbergh, and 
Benjamin DuBois delivering the charges to the pastor and peo- 
ple, and taking part in the devotional exercises. 

The occasion was one of the deepest interest. More than 
half a century had passed away since the congregation had 
assembled for a similar purpose. As the newly installed pas- 
tor pronounced the benediction, many prayers ascended on 
high for the perpetuity and prolongation of the relation just 
formed. 

Since the organization of the Church, its pastors had re- 
sided in the Freehold congregation, and now, as the parsonage 
at Freehold was occupied by Mr. DuBois, the Middletown 
people desired their new pastor to dwell among them. To 
gratify their wishes, the Consistory inaugurated measures for 
the purchase of a parsonage at Middletown. The property 
selected was that now occupied by Rev. Dr. Reiley of Holm- 
del. There Dr. Van Vranken commenced housekeeping, and 
there he dwelt until 1826. He was born at Hopewell in 1790. 
His father was Rev. Nicholas Van Vranken, the principal of 
a flourishing academy, which proved the germ of Union Col- 
lege. He was afterward pastor of the Reformed churches of 
Fishkill, Hopewell, and Poughkeepsie. It is said that one 
day he was surprised by having an elder of his Church greet 
him with the remark : "Dominie, I hear that a great woe has 
been pronounced against you ; a woe upon the very highest 
authority ; 'woe unto the man of whom all speak well.' " 
Samuel, it is said, resembled his father. He graduated from 
the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick in 1817. A 
short time after he married IMiss Maria Gansevoort of Albany, 
a descendant of Wessel Gansevoort of Gronnigen, "one of the 
Morning Stars of the Reformation in Holland." This lady 
died while Mr. Van Vranken was pastor of this Church. Her 
remains,* with those of her children, three in number, and 



* Mrs. \'an X'rankcn's tomb bears this inscription: "In memory of Maria Ganse- 
voort, wife of Rev. Samuel A. \'an N'ranken, who died June 19, 183 1, in the 
35th year of her age." 

62 



her mother's,* are interred in the adjacent burying ground. 
Her ancestors were among the noblest of old Holland's sons, 
prominent actors in events whose influence is still felt through- 
out Christendom. 

Dr. Van Vranken was again married twice. First to a 
Miss Swift of Poughkeepsie, and then to Mrs. Mary Boulden 
of Delaware, who still survives him, honored and esteemed by 
her acquaintances and friends, because of her estimable Chris- 
tian character, and deeply attached to this, the Church of her 
husband's first service. 

In 1834, after a pastorate of sixteen years. Dr. \'an 
Vranken accepted a call to the First Reformed Church of 
Poughkeepsie. Here he remained about three years, when 
he removed to New York and became pastor of the Broome 
Street congregation, from which position he was called in 
1 84 1, by the General Synod of the Reformed Church, to oc- 
cupy the chair of Didactic Theology in the Seminary at New 
Brunswick. This position he filled with credit to himself and 
honor to the Church until the day of his death, January i, 
1861. I was then a student at college, and well remember the 
last sermon he ever preached. His text, as if he had received 
intimation of death's approach, was the i6th verse of the 7th 
chapter of Job, 'T would not live alway." The sermon was 
full of expressions setting forth the grand and glorious hopes 
which make peaceful and joyous our advance to the tomb. 
It seemed to be the breathing forth of the ardent longings of 
the speaker's heart to be at home with Jesus: and made one 
sigh for the same strong and precious faith. 

As his character has been portrayed by abler pens than 
mine, I will not mar the good work they have done. A few 
extracts from that which others have written will be sufficient 
to indicate the noble type of his manhood. 

"His personal presence was imposing. His voice rang 
out freely and clearly. The grasp of his hand was animat- 



* This lady's tomb bears this inscription: "In memory of Elizabeth Rosehoom, 
relict of the late Conrad Ganscvoort, of Albany. Died January 1 1. 1850, aged 81 
years, 17 days. Her holy virtues are sacred memorials, embalmed in th^ hearts 
of her children, who rise up and call her blessed." 

63 



ing. His eye rested confidently upon you, and when he spoke, 
you saw plainly that he was a man of a frank and open dis- 
position. In early life he preached Memoriter. Every ser- 
mon was profitable. At communion seasons, in the prayer 
meeting, and often in social intercourse, when he related some 
striking instance in which the power of divine grace had been 
sweetly and kindly manifested, his huge frame would quiver, 
his utterance become choked, and his cheeks wet with tears." 
In a word, "he was a highly intelligent, noble, Christian gen- 
tleman." It is said he never lost a friend. So long as he 
lived the officers of this Church were accustomed to consult 
him and seek his advice, assured that their interests were 
dear to his heart. After his death they testified their appre- 
ciation of his character by placing on record a minute, pre- 
pared by Mr. William Spader, who at that time, and for many 
years, was the clerk of the Consistory. This minute says : 

''We remember, with gratitude to God, that this eminent minister of 
Christ was ordained to the sacred office, and commenced his long and 
useful career, in this church. He enjoyed, in a remarkable degree, the 
respect and affections of the people of Monmouth County, and, al- 
though many years have elapsed since his separation from them, their 
early attachment has not been diminished. We recognize, even at this 
distant day, the vigor and evangelical character of his ministry, in the 
prevalence of sound doctrinal views, and the growth of the Reformed 
Dutch Church in this community. As a further expression of our grate- 
ful remembrance of the honored pastor and professor, it is : Resolved 
by this Consistory, to obtain a portrait of the Rev. Dr. Van Vranken, 
to be presented to the General Synod, with a request that it may be 
permitted to hang in the Chapel of the 'Peter Hertzog Theological 
Seminary.' " 

The portrait thus procured may be seen in the James 
Suydam Hall of the Theological Seminary at New Bruns- 
w^ick. A worthy tribute to the memory of a worthy man. 

XII. The Separation of the Two Congregations 

January 8. 1824, about six years after the installation of 
INIr. Van Vranken, the Consistory were called together to 

64 



consider the necessity of repairing the old meeting house, the 
house of worship which occupied the site of the sanctuary in 
which we are assembled, or of building a new house of wor- 
ship. The result of the meeting is thus recorded: 

"i. Resolved unanimously, That it is inexpedient to repair the old 
building. 

"2. Resolved, That it is expedient that one building situated in a 
central spot should be erected for the use of the whole congregation. 

"3. Resolved, That an effort be made to procure subscriptions to en- 
able the Consistory to erect such a building on the lot of ground usually 
called Reid's lot near Clover Hill. 

"4. Resolved, That Messrs. D. Schenck and A. Smock, from the Con- 
sistory, and Captain Daniel Schenck and Mr. Isaac Van Dorn, from the 
congregation, be a committee to procure such subscriptions." 

The causes which led to this action of the Consistory were 
the great extent of the congregation and the distance which 
many were compelled to travel every other Sabbath to enjoy 
divine worship. There were twenty-seven gates between the 
house of Mr. Uriah Smock, near the village of Marlborough, 
and the Church at Middletown to be opened and shut, both 
in going to and returning from church. Many other resi- 
dences were shut in in like manner. 

To do away with conditions so inconvenient the pastor 
desired to build one large church in the centre of the two 
congregations, to take the place of the two houses of worship 
in which he was then preaching on alternate Sabbaths. He 
wished to concentrate his forces and move upon the enemy 
with a solid army instead of separate squadrons. The people 
were divided in opinion. 

The committee appointed by the Consistory reported on 
the 17th of February that they found one section of the con- 
gregation favorably disposed toward the plan of the Con- 
sistory, and that many subscribed liberally toward its execu- 
tion, but that in another section of the congregation different 
views were entertained. Because of this the committee 
thought it inexpedient to proceed any further until the state 
of affairs was made known. 

65 



The Consistory upon receiving this information ordered 
a stay of proceedings and called a meeting of the whole con- 
gregation in the meeting house at Middletown, New Holm- 
del, on the 15th of March, to act upon the following questions: 

"First, whether they would agree to abide by a decision of the ma- 
jority. 

"Second, whether they would prefer to maintain two houses of wor- 
ship for the use of the congregation or the erection of one on a central 
position." 

At the meeting thus called it was decided by ballot that 
two houses of worship were necessary to meet the wants of 
the congregation, and two committees were appointed, one to 
again examine the old meeting house in Freehold township, 
and ascertain if the old church should be repaired or a new 
church built. The action of this committee, it was decided, 
should be final. It was composed of William Van Cleef, John 
Wyckoff, Mathias Conover, John Whitlock, Daniel Schenck, 
Garret H. Smock, and Garret D. Hendrickson. 

The other committee was appointed to obtain subscriptions 
for repairing or building, as the former committee might de- 
termine, and was composed of Garret D. Hendrickson and 
David Schenck for the Freehold congregation, with George 
G. Smock and Peter R. Smock for the congregation at Mid- 
dletown. 

On the 1 2th day of June the former committee reported in 
favor of erecting a new church, and the Consistory ordered 
the latter committee to circulate a subscription for moneys "to 
be used for the sole purpose of erecting a house of public wor- 
ship on the old site at Freehold." On the 26th of August this 
committee reported that $2,470.00 had been subscribed — $1,- 
340.50 by the Freehold congregation, $1,130 by the Middle- 
town congregation. The result was a sad and bitter disap- 
pointment, in view of which the Consistory at a meeting held 
August 30th adopted the following preamble and resolutions : 

"Whereas, The congregation by their votes have prohibited the Con- 
sistory from building a church on a central position ; and, 

66 



"Whereas, The amount subscribed for building on the site of the old 
Freehold church is insufficient for that purpose; and, 

"Whereas, The Consistory have not at this time any other funds 
under their control, 

"Therefore Resolved, That the Consistory find it impracticable to 
come at this time to any conclusion on the subject of building a new 
church. 

"Resolved, That the above preamble and resolutions be read from the 
pulpit." 

But not yet disheartened, the Consistory with commenda- 
ble courage again "entered upon the consideration of building 
a new church," and October 27th resolved to call a meeting 
of the Great Consistory to advise them what course to pur- 
sue. They also instructed the pastor when giving notice of 
the meeting from the pulpit to read so much of the Constitu- 
tion of the Church as relates to the power and authority of 
the Great Consistory. 

In pursuance of this notice the Great Consistory met No- 
vember 6. There were seventeen members present, but noth- 
ing definite was done. When the question whether a central 
house of worship should be built was put, it was not decided, 
the members evidently refusing to vote. But when the ques- 
tion whether they preferred a division of the congregation to 
the erection of a central house of worship was voted upon 
there was a majority opposed to such division. 

The Great Consistory having failed them and refused the 
asked for and needed advice, the acting Consistory on the 8th 
of November determined to free themselves of their per- 
plexity by submitting to the congregation, to be decided by 
ballot, whether a church be built on a central site or the con- 
gregation be divided so as to form two distinct bodies. 

In connection with this action the Consistory formulated 
the following resolutions: 

"i. Resolved, That by the decision of the congregation on the above 
question the Consistory will be regulated in their future proceedings. 

"2. Resolved, That if the congregation decide in favor of one church, 
the designation of a site be left to a joint committee of six, three from 

5 6y 



Middletown and three from Freehold, to be nominated by the Con- 
sistories of the two townships. Should it, however, occur that this com- 
mittee can not agree upon a spot at a price satisfactory to themselves, 
within fifteen days from the date of their appointment, the Consistories 
will take the business in their own hands and act to the best of their 
own judgment." 

The election was held on Tuesday, November 25, between 
the hours of 12 m. and 5 p. m. Polls were opened at the 
church in each township and the elders acted as judges of 
election. The result was a total vote of 56. Of this number 
31 for a central house of worship and 7 for division were cast 
in Freehold, and 16 for a central house and 2 for division in 
Middletown, giving a majority of 38 in favor of a central 
house of worship. 

So soon as the result was known the Consistory appointed 
the following committee to select a site for the new church. 
For Freehold, Mr. William Van Dorn, Mr. John H. Smock, 
and Schuyler Schenck. For Middletown, D. L. F. Schenck, 
John Hulshart, and Daniel I. Polhemus. 

December the i6th the committee reported their inability 
to agree upon a suitable site for the proposed church on ac- 
count of the extravagant prices demanded for the land. At 
the same time a petition signed by a large number of the 
congregation was presented to the Consistory, praying them 
to grant a new election, not on the question whether there 
should be a central house of worship or a division of the 
congregation, but on the question whether there should be one 
or two houses of worship for the use of the .congregation. 
This petition was accompanied with the declaration that if 
their prayer was denied an appeal would be made to the Rev- 
erend Classis of New Brunswick. The Consistory denied the 
request, and, in view of the notice of appeal served ujx)n 
them, ordered a stay of proceedings for the present. But on 
the loth of February the Consistory determined to submit the 
matter of building a new church to a committee of eight, 
composed of Peter Van Dorn, Garret Wyckoff, Lewis Con- 
over, and Garret D. Hendrickson for Freehold, with Captain 

68 



Daniel Schenck, John Wyckoff, John Luyster, and Samuel 
Hubbard for Middletown. 

This committee in consultation with the Consistory or- 
dered a new election, February the 28th, in accordance with 
the request of the petitioners, and declared that if the decision 
should be in favor of one meeting house it was to be located 
rear Clover Hill, but if two houses of worship were voted 
for the Freehold Church was to be built on or near the pres- 
ent site. There is no record of this election. As the pastor 
of the church and the Consistory were decidedly in favor of 
one house of worship in the centre of the congregation, the 
election probably agreed with their views, in opposition to 
the wishes of a strong and influential majority. But what- 
ever may have been the outcome of the election it failed to 
bring peace to the conflicting factions of the congregations, 
and the Consistory was compelled to submit, its difficulties to 
the Classis of New Brunswick. 

The Classis appointed a committee to investigate the mat- 
ter, possessing talent enough to settle the gravest questions 
of state. Its chairman was Rev. James S. Canon. Asso- 
ciated with him were Revs. John L. Zabriskie and James B. 
Hardenbergh, and the elders, John Frelinghuysen, of Somer- 
ville, and Jacob R. Hardenbergh, of New Brunswick. This 
committee, after holding divine service in the church at Mid- 
dletown, met with a committee appointed by the two con- 
gregations to present their views, and then conferred with 
other prominent and influential ones who chanced to be pres- 
ent. The meeting was harmonious, and with one mind de- 
sired the division of the congregation, believing it would tend 
to the enlargement of each of the congregations, and be the 
means also of making friendship therein. Dr. Canon recom- 
mended the formation of the two congregations, according to 
the requirements of the Church Constitution. The Classis 
adopted his recommendation, and also, with others, the fol- 
lowing resolution : "That the line which divides the township 
of Freehold from the township of Middletown be recom- 
mended to be the line of division, for the present, between the 

69 



congregations of Freehold and Middletown, when formed." 
By this action of the Classis. the united congregations of 
Freehold and Middletown, which for nearly a hundred and 
twenty-five years had enjoyed the labors of the same pastors, 
had mingled their voices in t«he worship of God, had conse- 
crated their children to the Lord at the same baptismal font, 
and had gathered about the same communion table, mutual 
sharers in each other's hopes and fears and prosperity, was 
severed in twain, November 28, 1825, the larger portion be- 
coming the First Reformed Church of Freehold, the other the 
Reformed Church of Middletown, which has since been in- 
corporated the Reformed Church of Holmdel. Henceforth 
their history flows in two distinct and separate channels. 

However sad such a result may seem, we are compelled to 
admire the long-continued efforts of the Consistory to main- 
tain the union of the churches and to preserve the delightful 
community of interests that had characterized the past. Their 
endeavors in this direction emphatically testify that, however 
beneficial the union had proved, the time had come when the 
interests of the kingdom of God demanded independent or- 
ganizations for the churches. 

Our task at the present time is to trace the course of only 
the main branch of the divided stream — the First Reformed 
Church of Freehold. The pastor of the Church at Holmdel 
will tell the story of the onflowing of the other branch. 

Xni. The First Reformed Church of Fui.i old 

Eighty families and sixty-eight communicants were repre- 
sented by this corporate title. The Consistory was r Mii])osed 
of three elders and three deacons. Garret Wyckofif ^'niel I. 
Schenck, and Aaron Smock were the elders : Tosc|.li V^an 
Cleef, Denise Schenck, and Garret G. Conovcr wore the 
deacons. 

The first act of the Consistory was to extend a call to 
the Rev. Samuel A. Van Vranken to become their pastor. It 

70 



was accepted at once, and Mr. Van Vranken's relation to 
the "United Congregation of Freehold and Middletown" dis- 
solved by Classis April 19, 1826. On Sunday, the 22d of the 
previous January, he had preached a farewell sermon to the 
Middletown congregation, and, vacating their parsonage, had 
moved within the bounds of the Freehold congregation, April 
nth. Mr. Van Vranken was a very popular preacher, and 
his great popularity as a pulpit orator caused the Classis, 
when dissolving his pastoral relation with the United Congre- 
gations, and approving the call of the First Church of Free- 
hold, to adopt the useless and impracticable resolution, "that 
it be enjoined upon the Consistories of Freehold and Middle- 
town, so soon as may be convenient, to take the late recom- 
mendation of Classis in regard to a division line between the 
two congregations into their serious consideration." It was 
never convenient. The Consistories were wiser than the 
Classis. No body of men can dictate the place where Chris- 
tian families shall worship. Convenience, inclination, or pref- 
erence will invariably determine Church relations. Arrange- 
ments were made, but never perfected, for the installation of 
Mr. Van Vranken at the Freehold Church on the third Sab- 
bath of July. A question was raised in relation to the neces- 
sity of installation services. As Mr. Van Vranken had al- 
ready been installed the pastor of the same people who now 
called him again, and had never vacated the pulpit he occu- 
pied, it seemed to many a superfluous thing to have him re- 
installed. It took the Classis two full years to decide the 
matter. The letter of the law was obeyed, and formal instal- 
lation services were held April 16, 1828. The Rev. James 
Romeyn preached the sermon. The Rev. James B. Harden- 
bergh delivered the charge to the pastor, and the Rev. J. 
Tenbrooke Beekman the charge to the people. 

The settlement of the affairs of the two congregations 
was pushed forward with energy. At a meeting, held the 2d 
day of January, 1826, it was unanimously agreed, "that the 
church edifice, and grounds adjacent thereto, should be con- 
sidered the exclusive property of the congregation worship- 

71 



ing therein ; that all the other property, whether real or per- 
sonal, belonging to the corporation of the United Congrega- 
tions at the time of their separation, should be equally divided 
between the two, the one moiety, or half, to each ; that all 
moneys in hand, at the time of their separation, or thereafter 
to be collected, shall be equally divided, whether arising from 
subscriptions, bonds, notes, or otherwise, and that all debts 
shall be equally borne by each, and paid previous to any di- 
vision of the property." A fairer settlement could not be ad- 
justed. Its realization was attended with difficulties. Ill 
feeling was engendered, bitter words were spoken, and the 
peace of the two congregations greatly disturbed. The storm 
soon passed by ; the final settlement between the congrega- 
tions taking place May 6, 1826. At this settlement the Con- 
sistory of this Church received $2,555. They were the pos- 
sessors also of $2,500 received from the estate of Tunis G. 
Van Der Veer of blessed memory. They also had $3,750, the 
half of the sum received from the sale of the parsonage farm ; 
making a total of $8,805 with which to commence their in- 
dependent career. 

The only real estate of which they were possessed was the 
land adjacent to an old church, so thoroughly out of repair 
that the building of a new one was an imperative necessity. 
They had no parsonage, and for this purpose purchased the 
small farm of about eighteen acres in the southwestern portion 
of the congregation now owned and occupied by Mr. Daniel 
\^an Mater. There the pastors of this church resided for 
nearly forty years. When the property was purchased it cost 
the congregation $3,766. 

In July, 1834, Mr. Van Vranken received a call from the 
Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie, and his pastoral rela- 
tion with this people was dissolved by the action of Classis 
the 23d of that month. His ministry was one of abundant 
blessing. We can only estimate its results by its lasting eflfects. 
There is no record of communicants covering this period, but 
during the eight years of his pastorate, immediately following 
the separation of the congregation, the 80 families and 68 

72 



communicants with which the first Church of Freehold com- 
menced its independent existence became 130 famiUes and 159 
communicants. 

XIV. The Building of the Brick Church 

Early in the spring of 1826 measures were inaugurated for 
securing a new church. There was considerable difficulty in 
determining its location. Some of the congregation desired 
to have it built on Hendrickson's Hill, the place already men- 
tioned as the site of the first Refonned Church in Monmouth 
County. But in April the Consistory unanimously resolved to 
erect a new house of worship "on the site of the present 
church." They also determined that the building should be 
45 feet wide and 55 feet long, and that it should be of brick, 
with a steeple and a gallery. Mr. James I. Baird and Mr. 
Garret H. Smock were appointed a building committee, sub- 
ject to the direction of the Consistory. 

On Sunday, the 4th of June, Mr. Van Vranken preached 
a farewell sermon to the old building, which since 1732, a 
period of ninety-four years, had echoed with the praises of 
Almighty God, and to many was endeared above all the places 
of earth. After the old building was taken down, and while 
the new one was in course of erection, Mr. Van Vranken 
preached at the Court House, in Freehold village, and also 
in the vicinity of Colts Neck, sometimes at Mr. Statesir's, and 
frequently in a bam on the old Stoutenbergh farm, the prop- 
erty now owned by Mr. Ryall. The work on the new church 
was pushed forward with energy and zeal. So far as prac- 
ticable the materials of the old building were used in the con- 
struction of the new. A well was dug, not far from the road, 
in the present churchyard, to supply the necessary water. 
This well remained many years after the church was finished. 
A shed for cooking purposes was put up on the church grounds 
not far from the building, that the laborers might be boarded, 
and much expense saved.* The bricks were made and burned 



* There were present at our memorial siervices (1877) two of those who were 
employed in the construction of the building — Mr. John W. Van Cleef, carpen- 
ter, and Mr. Thomas J. Smith, mason. 

72> 



on the farm now occupied by Mr. John H. Van Mater, ad- 
joining the Church property. Captain Isaac Herbert, who 
was learning his trade with Mr. James Thompson, the black- 
smith, on whose anvil all the necessary iron fixtures for the 
church were wrought, carted the first load of sand with an ox 
team. The day was very warm, and one of the oxen, when 
returning home, fell dead in the road. The greater part of 
the carting was done by Joseph Van Der Veer, who, when I 
moved into the parsonage, came to bid me welcome, saying he 
had welcomed Dominie \'an Vranken and every minister since 
his day to their home in the parsonage. May those whom he 
has thus welcomed rejoice with him in the heavenly home. 

While the church was being built, the bridge across Hop 
Brook, on the main road between Freehold and Matawan, 
was carried away by a storm ; a fact of interest only because 
the bridge on the same road and across the same stream, since 
preparations were commenced for these memorial services, 
has shared the same fate. 

The cornerstone of the new building was laid some time 
in July, and the building was completed the following year. 
The marble tablet in the front of the building was the gift of 
Mr. Hull, a stonecutter at Matawan. It bears this inscrip- 
tion: 



Reformed Dutch Church. 

Erected A. D. 1826. 

" Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, 
and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of 
fools. Eccle. 5: I." 



The first religious services held within the walls of the 
new church were the funeral ceremonies of the Rev. Benja- 
min DuBois, August 23. 

The building cost about $10,000; rather more than less. 

74 



Its appearance, when completed, differed within from its ap- 
pearance at present. The pulpit was higher. Back of the 
pulpit there was a window, and above the window a gilded 
dove. The elders' and deacons' seats, and other pews filling 
up the space, were each side of the pulpit where the stoves 
now stand. The change was made in 1853, through a com- 
mittee of which Mr. Uriah Smock was chairman. No other 
material alterations have been made. 

The building was solemnly dedicated to the service of the 
Triune Jehovah by the pastor, Sunday, the 9th day of Sep- 
tember, 1827. The pastor also preached a sermon suitable 
to the occasion, taking his text: Psalm 132, 8, 9. "Arise, O 
Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy strength. Let 
Thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Thy saints 
shout for joy." The occasion was one of rejoicing and glad- 
ness. In answer to the pastor's prayer the Lord chose the new 
building as the place of His abode. Here for fifty years He 
has met with His people. His presence has sanctified and 
hallowed these walls, and His spirit has carried the joys of 
salvation to penitent hearts. God has dwelt here, making this 
house, through the instrumentality of its holy services, like 
unto the river of which the Psalmist sings, "the streams 
thereof make glad the city of God." Oh ! the rejoicing before 
the throne on high ; who can describe it, because of the souls 
here born again? We have heard its echo:; we hope, by and 
by, to join the chorus. What a grand sight it would be if all 
who have here confessed Christ before men were assembled 
together. What a shout of thanksgiving would go up to 
heaven from pastors and people, from parents and children 
and children's children. Ah, indeed, as we have festooned 
these walls to-day with evergreen boughs, even so are they 
festooned with sacred memories in many hearts now rejoicing 
in glory. 

Only two of those who formed the membership of the 
Church when this building was dedicated are in the commu- 
nion of the Church to-day : the aged widow of Mr. Elias 
Brewer, Sr., long since deceased, and the Rev. Garret C. 

75 



Schenck. But thanks be unto God if the fathers have fallen 
in the "good fight of faith," their children and children's chil- 
dren have rallied around the cross, and stand to-day, main- 
taining the truth as it is in Jesus, and perpetuating the insti- 
tutions of our holy religion for those who are to come. 

When the Church was dedicated, an original anthem and 
an original hymn, prepared for the occasion, were sung by the 
choir. They are said to have been the composition of Dr. 
Van Vranken. The singing was led by Mr. Garret H. Smock, 
deceased. Among those who assisted him were Mr. John 
Conover, Mr. Garret S. Smock, deceased; Mrs. Sydney 
Schenck, Mrs. Benjamin DuBois, Mrs. John Henry Van Der 
Veer, Mrs. Elizabeth DuBois, Mrs. Jacob Probasco, Mr, 
Aaron Smock, deceased; Miss Phoebe Van Der Veer, and 
Mr. Daniel Polhemus Smock, who afterward for many years 
was the Church chorister. I have seen in his possession a 
large Bible bearing the inscription : "Presented to Daniel P. 
Smock by the Ladies' Society of the First Reformed Dutch 
Church of Freehold, N. J., as a token of Christian regard and 
appreciation of long continued services, August i6, 1856." 
I also find a minute of the Consistory, made in 1863, granting 
Mr. Smock a family plot in the Church cemetery, "as a token 
of appreciation of his long, faithful and gratuitous services as 
chorister of the Church." At the dedication of the church 
the singing was without the aid of an organ. The chorister 
in those days pitched the key note with a tuning fork, and 
the congregation were not afraid to join in. It was such mu- 
sic as stirred the soul of Burns to say: 

"They chant their artless notes in simple guise. 
They tune their hearts by far the noblest aim, 
Perhaps Dundee's wild warbling measures rise, 
Or plaintive Martyrs worthy of the name — 
Or noble Elgin beats the heavenward flame. 



'Compnred with these Italian trills are tame — 
The tickled ears no heart-felt raptures raise, 
No unison have they with our Creator's praise.' 



7^ 



After a few years, a bass-viol and violin were used in the 
choir. In 1853 the first reed instrument was purchased. It 
was a small piano-cased melodeon. Mrs. J. Conover Smock 
was called to preside at the instrument, and thus became the 
first organist of the Church. 

XV. The Pastorate of the Rev. James Otterson 

The Rev. James Otterson was Mr. Van Vranken's suc- 
cessor. He was fomially installed the first Wednesday of 
January, 1835. Dr. Messier, of Somerville, preached the ser- 
mon. The charge to the pastor was delivered by Dr. Howe, 
of New Brunswick, and that to the people by Dr. Sears, of 
Six-Mile-Run. The relation thus formed was of short dura- 
tion. It was dissolved November 27, 1838. 

Mr. Otterson was born of Scottish ancestry in the city of 
New York, October 11, 1791. He was brought up in the 
Associate Reformed Church. He graduated at Columbia 
College, having entered that institution at about eleven years 
of age. He studied theology with Dr. Mason, and was or- 
dained to the gospel ministry in 1821. When called to the 
pastorate of this Church he was in the prime of life. He 
had been pastor of the Associate Reformed Church of Broad- 
albin, in Fulton County, N. Y., and of the United Reformed 
Dutch Churches of Hempstead and Oyster Bay, Long Island. 
After his settlement here he took charge of the Church at 
White House, Hunterdon County, and then of the Presby- 
terian Church at Jamestown, N. Y. His last charge was in 
Wilmington, in the State of Delaware. He was too deep a 
thinker to be a popular preacher, in the usual acceptation of 
the term. His sermons were frequently beyond the reach of 
ordinary congregations. His intellect was vigorous, his habits 
scholarly, his mind clear and analytical. Careful in his pulpit 
preparation, he ever caused you to feel that he was master of 
the situation, whatever the subject of discussion, knowing 
what he affirmed and the conclusion he was to reach. Some 
who remember him speak of him as a remarkable minister, a 
splendid sermonizer, a learned theologian, a very instructive 

77 



and edifying? teacher. His speech flowed smoothly from his 
Hps, and his appeals to the heart and conscience were often 
very eloquent. He was a fine elocutionist, often stirring the 
heart's depths by his impressive manner in reading a hymn, 
or the pathetic portions of Scripture. In ecclesiastical assem- 
blies he had few superiors, and not many equals. He was 
stricken with paralysis, and died at the residence of his name- 
sake son in Philadelphia, September 17, 1867. 

In 1835 ^^^ rapid growth of the village of Freehold and 
the large number of the families of the congregation residing 
in its vicinity caused the Consistory to purchase a lot in the 
village from Mr. Cyrus Bruen, and to commence the erection 
thereon of a house of worship. The cornerstone was laid 
with appropriate ceremonies by the Rev. James Otterson in 
the spring of 1836, but when the frame was raised and partly 
inclosed work was suspended for want of funds. The build- 
ing remained in this unfinished condition for nearly two years. 
The Consistory thought of abandoning the enterprise, and 
would have done so, it is said, but for the earnest protest of 
Mrs. John H. Smock. When her husband related the views 
of the Consistory, she shook her head and made reply, saying: 
"No, John ; no. That Church ought to be finished and must 
be finished." Mr. Smock was of the same opinion (a wise 
man always agrees with his wife). He started a subscrip- 
tion, advanced money, and pushed the work forward with such 
success that the completed building was dedicated to the 
service of the Triune Jehovah by the Rev. James Otterson, 
February i, 1838. It cost the congregation, exclusive of the 
lot, about $5,000. Its possession was the cause of much anx- 
iety and trouble. It involved the congregation in debt for 
many years, and gave birth to much feeling in relation to the 
amount of service there to be rendered by the pastor. 

XVL The Pastorate of the Rev. Aaron A. Marcellus 

To succeed Mr. Otterson, the Consistory called the Rev. 
Aaron A. Marcellus in 1839. He was installed the last 

78 



Wednesday of May. On this occasion the Rev. James K. 
Campbell, of North Branch, preached the sermon. The Rev. 
J. Tenbrooke Beekman delivered the charge to the pastor, and 
the Rev. J. C. Sears the charge to the people. 

Mr. Marcellus was born at Amsterdam, N. Y., in 1709. 
His ancestors were Dutch. He graduated from Union Col- 
lege in 1826, from the Theological Seminary at New Bruns- 
wick in 1830, and the same year was licensed to preach the 
gospel by the Classis of New York. His first settlement was 
as pastor of the Reformed Church at Lysander, N. Y. In 
1 83 1 he removed to Schaghticoke. In 1834 to Manhattan. 
In 1836 he became principal of the Lancaster Academy, which 
position he resigned in 1839 to take charge of this Church. 
This was by far his longest pastorate, extending over a 
period of twelve years. In 1851 he resigned his call and com- 
menced teaching in New York City. In 1856 he assumed the 
pastorate of the Church at Greenville, but after a ministry of 
about three years commenced teaching at Bergen, where he 
died in i860. 

Mr. Marcellus was an unpretentious and unassuming man. 
Every place where he ministered bears testimony to the fact 
that he was a faithful ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
In preaching he did not seek his own glory, but endeavored 
to hold up Christ as the sinner's only hope, rather than charm 
the ears of his auditors with bursts of eloquence or rhetori- 
cal displav. He is said to have been especially gifted in 
prayer. When leading the devotions of the people, he seemed 
to have an unction from the Holy One. His personal trials 
and difficulties were many, but he found the grace of the 
Saviour, whose love he proclaimed, sufficient for him, and 
amid the many vicissitudes of life was ever a cheerful and 
happy man. 

He sought for souls and won them for Christ. Many who 
for years have been the most active in promoting the Church's 
interests made a profession of their faith during his ministry. 
At one time twenty-four united with the Church by confessing 
Christ. This was the most extensive revival the Church has 

79 



ever enjoyed, excepting perhaps the precious season of the 
Spirit's presence and power in the winter and spring of 1876, 
which we all remember so well, when 23 confessed Christ at 
one time. In 1840 the membership of the Church was in- 
creased by the reception of 40 persons, 39 of whom were re- 
ceived on confession. 

At one time an attempt was made to again consolidate 
the Freehold and Middletown congregations, and call two 
pastors for the three pulpits. When Mr. Marcellus was 
called, in 1839, it was stipulated that he should preach twice 
on the Sabbath — in the Brick Church in the forenoon, and 
in the church in the village of Freehold in the afternoon. 
But this arrangement soon proved very unsatisfactory' to the 
village people. They naturally desired a morning service, and 
finally resolved to organize the Second Reformed Church of 
Freehold. Mr. Ebenezer Conover and Mr. David Buck were 
appointed a committee to petition Classis, and the Church was 
organized the first Tuesday in October, 1842. The Church 
was formed almost entirely from this congregation, and 
they at once requested a full warranty deed for the Church 
property in the village. The Consistory refused to grant 
their request, because those still remaining in the Brick 
Church congregation hud expended at least $3,500 in the 
erection of the building, and the congregation, having been 
weakened in their ability to support a pastor, did not feel able 
to present the new congregation with a house of worship. 
But desirous of encouraging the enterprise, they oflfered to 
give them a clear title for $1,500. This generous offer was 
nt»t accepted. They then offered the church for $1,000, but 
even this magnanimous o^ffer was rejected; and so, finally, in 
1846, four years after their organization, the village congre- 
gation offered this Consistory $750 for the village church. 
The offer was accepted, and thus was consummated the 
cheapest transfer of real estate the county clerk has ever 
recorded. 

But the Lord knows how to provide for the changes which 
time works in communities. The ministry of Mr. Marcellus 

80 



was very greatly blessed, so that, although a Church had been 
formed out of the congregation, he had the satisfaction of 
seeing their places more than filled. When commencing his 
ministry, the membership of the Church was 137. When the 
pastoral relation was dissolved it was 184. To the ministry 
of Mr. Marcellus two important institutions of the Church 
owe their origin — the Sabbath school and the week-day prayer 
meeting. The Sabbath school was organized in 1840. It 
was held, for want of a better place, in the gallery of the 
church, and there it has ever since convened. It is known as 
the Brick Church Sabbath School, and is in session only 
through the warm months of the year. The first year of 
its existence it reported 108 scholars, with an average at- 
tendance of 80. Its first superintendent was Mr. William 
Statesir. He was succeeded by Mr. William Spader, who 
superintended the school for twenty years with great ability 
and success. Mr. Lafayette G. Schenck was superintendent 
a short time, when Mr. Lafayette Schenck, the present su- 
perintendent, assumed the office. There are in this school 
four large adult Bible classes, an infant class, 13 teachers, 
and 100 scholars. 

About the same time that the Sabbath school was organ- 
ized, the weekly prayer meeting was started. Mr. John 
Baird and Mr. William Van Dorn, now deceased, met, ac- 
cording to appointment, at the house of Mr. Van Dorn, the 
present residence of his son, Mr, Daniel P. Van Dorn. The 
meeting was small. There was only one other present — the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Mr. Van Dorn led the singing, Mr. 
Baird led in prayer, and the Lord Jesus Christ blessed the 
assembly. The same evening Mr. William Spader and Mr. 
Tunis V. Conover, deceased, according to appointment, held 
a similar meeting at the residence of Mr, William Statesir, the 
house now occupied by his son, Mr. D. Abeel Statesir. This 
was also quite a small meeting. But, as at the other, so also 
here Jesus Christ was present. It was a day of small things. 
But similar meetings were afterward held in other parts of 
the congregation, which gave rise to neighborhood prayer 

81 



meetings that were well attended, and issued at length in 
the regular Thursday evening lecture and prayer meeting. 

XVII. The Pastorate of the Rev. Ralph Willis 

In 185 1 the Rev. Ralph Willis succeeded Mr. IMarcellus. 
He w^as installed September 23. The Rev. Dr. Van Vranken 
preached the sermon, from St. Matthew's Gospel, xxiv. 14. 
"This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the 
world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end 
come." The Rev. Dr. Reiley read the form and delivered the 
charge to the pastor. The Rev. A. C. Millspaugh delivered 
the charge to the people. The ministry thus inaugurated em- 
braced a period of over sixteen years. The pastoral relation 
was dissolved February 28, 1868. From that time until 1880 
he was settled at Spotswood, Middlesex County, a pastor be- 
loved by the people of his charge and cheered by the blessing 
of God upon his labors. The years he occupied the pulpit of 
this Church, although unattended by any special seasons of 
revival, were years of seed-sowing and constant ingathering; 
166 were added to the communion of the Church — 129 by 
confession and 37 by certificate. 

The Rev. Ralph Willis was born in Loudon, England, 
August 16, 1815. He died March 16, 1895. From the me- 
morial records of the General Synod of the Reformed Church 
in America for 1895 we quote this affectionate tribute to his 
memory : 

"Mr. Willis was the son of a tradesman in prosperous circumstances, 
who sent him to a school in Yorkshire. It was the identical school that 
Dickens caricatured in the schoolmaster Squeers. He actually suffered 
great hardships there, but was finally able to get away. Soon after he 
sailed for this country and went directly to an uncle residing in Phila- 
delphia. There he worked for several years, but being converted in a 
revival, resolved to become a clergyman. He thereupon proceeded to 
New Brunswick and entered Rutgers College, graduating in 1839. and 
from the Theological Seminary at the same place in 1842, and was 
licensed by the Classis of Philadelphia in that same year. 

"He at once settled at Bethlehem, near Albany, N. Y., remaining 

82 



there until 1851, when he removed to Marlborough, N. J., where he was 
pastor until 1868, when he was called to Spotswood, N. J., and served 
the people there until 1880. 

"Mr. Willis was a faithful pastor, earnestly proclaiming the Gospel 
and seeking to raise to a higher Christian life the people among whom 
he labored. The church at Spotswood was a feeble enterprise, but with 
characteristic energy he went to work to put it upon a solid founda- 
tion. The present beautiful church building, the pleasant parsonage, 
and the improvements about the property are the results of his un- 
tiring efforts. 

"During his ministry at Spotswood he became County Superin- 
tendent of Schools, which office he held for twenty years, his son 
succeeding him in it and still holding the position. In this service Mr. 
Willis raised the tone of the schools, causing them to take high rank, 
and in the devotion to his work and the success of his labors became 
widely known and respected throughout the county. 

"After leaving Spotswood he became the rector of Hertzog Hall in 
New Brunswick, and continued to discharge the duties of that office 
for eight years, when increasing infirmities of age compelled him to 
resign. He was one of the most active workers in founding and fos- 
tering the Suydam Street Reformed Church at New Brunswick. Upon 
resigning the rectorship he purchased a residence near the church, that 
he might conveniently continue his interest in it. It was there that the 
closing years of his life were spent. In intercourse with friends he had 
known for years, in pursuing the studies he was so fond of, and in 
work for the Master, he journeyed through the last stages of his 
earthly pilgrimage. He was ever thanking God for His mercy to him 
during his active ministry and for the peace and happiness He had 
afforded him in his old age. For several weeks before his death he 
had been ill with pneumonia and suffered greatly, yet the end was 
peaceful, and, without a struggle, was like falling asleep. He was 
buried at Spotswood, close to the church for which he had done so 
much." 

In 1852 a second Sabbath school was organized at Marl- 
borough. It met in the District schoolhouse, and was in- 
tended only as a winter school. It was at first superintended 
by Mr. Willis himself. Those who have occupied the office 
of superintendent are too numerous to mention. Those who 
have done so for the longest period are Mr. Lafayette G. 
Schenck and Mr. John Baird. Since the erection of the 
chapel this school has been maintained both summer and 
winter, and has proved what every Sabbath school should, 

6 83 



a nursery of the Church. It is known as the Marlborough 
Chapel Sabbath School. There are in it a large infant class, 
two adult Bible classes, 15 teachers, and about 150 scholars. 
It has also a well selected library of 400 volumes, purchased 
by the young ladies attending the school. 

In 1855 the Church grounds for burial purposes were en- 
larged by the addition of an acre of land on the west side 
of the Church, and in 1866 a similar addition was made on 
the east side, and the sheds which formerly stood in the rear 
of the Church were removed to their present position, greatly 
enhancing the appearance of the cemetery, which is rapidly 
becoming one of the most picturesque and beautiful. The 
Church building was also put in thorough repair and the wood- 
work painted. The improvements cost the congregation about 
$2,000. 

In 1856 the Reformed Church at Colts Neck was organ- 
ized, from families and communicants of this Church and the 
Church at Holmdel. But the congregation, although twice 
depleted by the organization of Churches since their separa- 
tion from Middletown, were not disheartened. 

A minute of Consistory discloses the fact that a committee 
appointed to revise the salary list, "which, owing to some 
changes in the congregation by removals, had fallen short," 
were more than successful, not only making good the loss 
sustained, but increasing the minister's salary $125. Di- 
vision quite frequently results in increase. 

XIX. The Pastorate of the Rev. George Swain 

In 1868 the Rev. George Swain succeeded Mr. Willis. He 
was installed September i. He was a graduate of the Col- 
lege and Seminary at New Brunswick, and had been or- 
dained in 1866 by the Classis of New Brunswick, at Middle- 
bush, Somerset County, N. J., which position he resigned at 
the call of this people. At his installation the Rev. Garret 
C. Schcnck presided, and read the form. The Rev. George 
Seibert preached the sermon, from Galatians vi. 4: "Let every 

84 



man prove his own work." The charge to the pastor was 
delivered by the Rev. Samuel Lockwood, and the Rev. James 
Bolton delivered the charge to the people. Mr. Swain's min- 
istry proved to be a short one. He resigned his call in 
April, 1873, to take charge of the Gates Avenue Presbyterian 
Church of Brooklyn, N. Y. This position he occupied about 
two years, when he became pastor of the Old Presbyterian 
Church at Allentown, Monmouth County, N. J., where he 
still resides. A short time after his settlement at Allentown, 
Mr. Swain received from Rutgers College the degree of D.D. 

During his ministry here 60 persons were added to the 
membership of the Church, 43 by confession of faith and 17 
by certificate. 

Immediately after the settlement of Mr. Swain measures 
were inaugurated for securing a lecture room or chapel in 
the village of Marlborough. Various causes rendered such 
a building desirable. The village was growing, and many 
of its inhabitants in the communion of the Church were un- 
able, to attend the services in this house of worship with regu- 
larity and convenience. 

In 1869 a suitable lot of about half an acre, on the west 
side of Main Street, in the centre of the village, was pur- 
chased by the Consistory, and a committee appointed to se- 
cure the erection of a chapel. Messrs. Uriah Smock, Peter 
L. Cortelyou, Lafayette Schenck, and Dr. Lewis I. Gordon 
constituted this committee. They pushed the work forward 
with energy and zeal. The building they erected is 26 feet 
wide and 46 feet long and cost the congregation $2,725. The 
pulpit was provided by the Consistory of the Second Reformed 
Church of Freehold. The bell was donated by Mr. Peter L. 
Cortelyou. The head-light over the door was the gift of Mr. 
David R. Hobart. The clock was presented by the Hon. 
Garret A. Hobart, of Paterson, N. J., and the Bible and 
Hymn Book by Mrs. John E. Conover. The building was 
entirely free from debt, and was dedicated to the service of 
the Triune Jehovah, in accordance with the beautiful form 
prescribed in the Liturgy of the Reformed Church, Novem- 

85 



ber 21, 1869. An eloquent sermon was preached on the occa- 
sion by the Rev. GuHck Van Aken, of Freehold. The house 
was crowded to its utmost capacity, and the services were 
of a nature the most interesting-. The people rejoiced and 
the angels of God rejoiced in heaven. The building- was 
needed to meet the wants of the growing village. Its ser- 
vices have ever been largely attended. It has proved a move- 
ment in the right direction, and at the right time. It has 
constantly tended to the Church's increase. God has made 
the place glorious by displays of His power. We need a sim- 
ilar building in the northern part of the congregation. My 
heart aches because there is none. I am ready for the ser- 
vice such a building would require, and pray God and my 
people to hasten its erection. 

In 1870 the congregation determined to dispose of the 
farm, which for forty years had been the home of their pas- 
tors, and build a parsonage in Marlborough village. To carry 
out this desire a committee was appointed, consisting of 
Messrs. Peter L. Cortelyou, Uriah Smock, Peter C. Van Der 
Veer, A. W. Hobart, and Peter C. DuBois. A suitable lot 
near the Chapel, but on the opposite side of the street, was 
purchased of Mr. William W. Herbert for $550. The farm 
was sold for $6,110, and a pleasant home erected for the pas- 
tor's use. The building cost $4,325, the necessary grading 
and fencing and outside improvements about $1,300. The 
house is an ornament to the village, and with slight altera- 
tions to be made in the future will be as convenient and ample 
a dwelling-place as any one could desire. 

XX. The Pastorate of the Rev. Theodore W. Welles 

To succeed Mr. Swain the Rev. Theodore W. Welles was 
called from the First Reformed Church of Bayonne City. N. 
J., the latter part of July, 1873. He commenced his labors the 
first Sabbath of September, and was installed the 7th day of 
October. The Rev. Dr. Hageman presided, read the form 
and delivered the charge to the pastor. The sermon, by re- 

86 



quest of Classis, was preached by the Rev. Ransford Wells, 
D.D., then of Brookfield, Conn., from Hebrews xiii. 17: "Obey 
them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for 
they watch for your souls as they that must give account." 
The charge to the people was delivered by the Rev. James B. 
Wilson. On the following Sabbath the newly installed pastor 
preached his inaugural sermon, from Rom. i. 15: "I am ready 
to preach the gospel to you." The pastorate thus inaugu- 
rated continued until December i, 1887. As its years passed 
by, happy years to the pastor, cheered as he was in his labors 
by the kindness of the people to whom he ministered — God 
testified of His presence and power by constantly adding 
unto the Church. The record of these years, never to be for- 
gotten by the pastor, shows that he received into the com- 
munion of the Church 71 persons by certificate of Church 
membership and 138 persons by confession of their faith in 
Christ, or a total accession to the communion of the Church 
during his ministry of 209. The records also show that he 
solemnized 43 marriages, baptized 97 infants and 54 adults, 
and officiated at 153 funerals. 

When his pastorate began there were in the communion 
of the Church 176. Death was ever busy and removals were 
numerous, but so great was the Lord's goodness that when 
the pastorate ended there were 245 persons in the communion 
of the Church — a larger number than during the whole period 
of the Church's existence (188 years) had ever been identi- 
fied at one time with the Church. To God be all the praise 
and all the glory given. The increase was the gift of His 
saving love. 

The report on the State of Religion by the Classis of Mon- 
mouth, as published in the minutes of the Particular Synod 
of New Brunswick for the year 1888, says: "One item of spe- 
cial interest in the report of the First Church of Freehold is 
the large addition on confession at the pastor's farewell com- 
munion — 16; 7 of them being the entire class taught by Airs. 
Welles." 

During the pastorate of Mr. Welles the custom was inau- 

87 



gurated of presenting each baptized child of the Church eleven 
years of age a Bible containing a certificate of the child's 
baptism and a blank certificate to be filled when the child is 
received into the communion of the Church. The presenta- 
tion is made in a public and formal manner, accompanied with 
an address by the pastor explaining the significance of the 
baptism it commemorates, and followed by a prayer commit- 
ting the children to God. It is a beautiful custom, and has 
resulted in great good. The expense has been provided for 
by the generosity of Mr. John W. Herbert of Helmetta, N. J., 
who has given the Church a bond for this purpose for $200 
at five per cent interest. It is an investment which we 
trust will cheer his heart for all coming time through the con- 
sciousness that the sum thus given is perpetually testifying 
to the Heavenly Father's love and the Saviour's all-abounding 
grace. 

In 1877 the congregation commemorated the fiftieth anni- 
versary of the building of their present house of worship. 

The day was all that the most ardent lover of nature could 
desire — one of the brightest jewels of the year — making joyous 
with its genial influence every heart. 

The people commenced assembling at an early hour, filling 
the ample grounds about the church, and reading with interest 
the inscriptions upon the many old tombstones in the cemetery. 

The church was richly and handsomely adorned with 
flowers, evergreens, and mottoes bearing appropriate inscrip- 
tions. 

The decorations were described in one of the county papers 
as follows : 

"In the vestibule was the hospitable motto, 'Welcome.' On the 
front of the gallery, which runs around three sides of the church, 
were inscribed, in letters of evergreen, the names of the nine pastors 
formerly connected with the church, namely : Morgan, Haeghoort, 
Erickzon, DuBois, Van Vranken, Otterson, Marcellus. Willis, 
Swain. As the present pastor, Mr. Welles, occupied the pulpit, whicTi 
is on the south side of the building, he thus completed the circle of 
pastors. On the rear of the wall in the gallery, back of the choir, was 

88 



the inscription : 'Praise ye the Lord.' — Over the entrance door, to the 
left of the pulpit, was the date of the organization of the church, 1699; 
while over the other entrance, to the right, was the date 1877. The 
pillars back of the pulpit and those supporting the gallery, the windows, 
and the gallery front, were adorned with heavy cords of evergreens. 
The adornment of the pulpit was, however, the most tasteful and at- 
tractive feature ol the decorations. In front of it was a table from the 
centre of which rose a stand of rare and exquisite flowers. Back of 
this, on the front of the pulpit, was a beautiful lute of evergreens. To. 
the right and left of this were magnificent bouquets. Immediately in 
the rear of the pulpit was a large motto in the shape of a shield, the 
inscription on which was 'God is our Strength.' Above this were the 
words, 'The Lord our God be with us as He was with our Fathers' ; 
and still above this was a dove with spread wings, made of white 
flowers." 

The exercises commenced promptly at 10.30 a. m. with 
the singing of an anthem entitled, "I was glad when they said 
unto me let us go to the house of the Lord." 

The music for the occasion was furnished by the Church 
choir and elicited much praise. The choir consisted of Miss 
Tillie Conover. organist; Mrs. John V. N. Willis, soprano; 
Miss Minnie Conover, alto; Mr. D. Abeel Statesir, tenor; Mr. 
Lafayette S. Schenck, basso. 

Two hymns of special interest were sung — one written by 
the Rev. Samuel Van Vranken and sung at the dedication of 
the Church, September 9, 1827, and one written for the occa- 
sion by Miss Alethia Cooke. An historical address was de- 
livered by the pastor. A collation was prepared by the ladies 
of the Church, to which all present were invited. 

It is computed that not less than one thousand persons 
partook of refreshments. At three o'clock the church was 
again filled and the exercises commenced by the singing of 
the "Gloria" from IMozart's Twelfth Mass. 

The hymn composed by Dr. Van Vranken: 

"Here in Thy temple, God of grace and glory, 
Lo Thy people wait, the Lord of life to meet; 
O come this day, Thou might}' Prince and Saviour, 
O come, for we would worship at Thy feet. 

89 



"Bless all Thy servants waiting at Thine altar; 

Clothe them with Thy grace to do Thy work, O God; 
With zeal and love to sound the great salvation 
Our blest Redeemer purchased with His blood. 

"Bless all Thy people in Thy courts attending, 
Thy good Spirit send, in answer to their calls; 
O then with joy we'll chant the loud Hosanna, 
And lasting be the echo from these walls. 

"Thy kingdom prosper, O thou great Jehovah ; 

Let victory's shout through all the nations run, 
Till other sound blown from archangel's trumpet 
Announce the second advent of Thy Son. 

"Then, farewell temples laid on earth's foundation, 
To loftier Courts the ransomed speed their way, 
And joining all in one immense assembly. 

The arch of Heaven shall echo with their lay." 

The hymn composed by Miss Alethia Cooke: 

"Thou God who led our fathers ; 

Thou God Jehovah, Lord ! 
Hear now our solemn praises, 

We raise with one accord. 
For blessings without number 

Through all the changing days; 
For ev'ry Eben-ezer, 

We shout aloud Thy praise. 

"Be thou our shield and Saviour, 
While wrestling with our foes; 
Grant us Thy love and favor, 

While passing through life's woes. 
Rejoicing in Thy pleasure 

Through all our dev'ous ways, 
We'll sing our Eben-ezer, 
And shout aloud Thy praise. 

"When we lay down our armor. 
And cease our conflicts here, 
Through Christ our loving Saviour, 
We'll banish every fear; 

90 



Within the walls of jasper, 

With saints in glory raise 
Our songs of Eben-ezer, 

And shout aloud Thy praise — 

Hallelujah! hallelujah! amen!" 

The following impromptu addresses were delivered : 

The Rev. Dr. Reiley, pastor of the Reformed Church of Holmdel, 
said that such a large concourse of people to show their respect and 
regard for the sanctuary of the Lord was a very interesting fact. He 
remarked that he was present because he served the church which was 
regarded as a child of this Old Mother Church. "My church," he said, 
"is rather the sister of this one." They had a community of interests 
for many years, and are so nearly of an age that some are perplexed 
to know which is the mother. He stated that it was fifty-two years 
since they had separated, and that since that time there had been in- 
crease in the daughter's household nearly equal to that enjoyed by the 
old Mother Church. 

Rev. Dr. Hageman, of Freehold, presented the salutations of the 
second daughter of the Brick Church. He thought the second daughter 
was the fairest, and had thought so ever since he courted his wife. He 
said that the great power of the old Mother Church existed in the fact 
that she had faithfully maintained the holy ordinances of the gospel, 
and had sought the extension of the Redeemer's Kingdom. This church 
is stronger to-day by diffusion — ^by the organization of other churches 
from her members. 

The Rev. Garret C. Schenck, one of the sons of the church, and for 
many years a successful pastor, said that it was truly interesting to 
watch the progress and advancement of the Christian Church, in ful- 
filment of the prophecies of the word of God. He then referred to our 
ancestors seeking a home in the wildernesses of America, and asserting 
their faith in God's truthfulness, by bearing with them the Holy Scrip- 
tures and erecting churches where they built their homes. Mr. Schenck 
then exhibited two Bibles printed in the Dutch language, which, he 
said, were the pulpit Bibles of this old church ; one of them used in the 
church which stood where we were assembled, and the other in the 
church at Middletown. Mr. Schenck presented the books to the Con- 
sistories of the churches in which they had been used. He also exhib- 
ited an old sermon printed in Dutch, published in 1758, written by Daniel 
Hendrickson, many years an elder in this church, and commended in 
strong terms by his pastor, the Rev. Reynhard Erickzon. 

Rev. James B. Wilson, of Long Branch, said: "I bear to you the 
congratulations of the fifth daughter, who is not far from thirty years 

91 



of age. The immigration of some families of the Brick Church con- 
gregation to Long Branch was the cause and origin of the Reformed 
Church there." He said he had ministered twenty-six years at Long 
Branch, and that the congregation had been blessed by the Lord most 
abundantly "This fifth daughter has two children, the Seaside Chapel, 
and the church at Asbury Park. The church at the Highlands is also 
a foster-child, having received most of its assistance and encouragement 
from the Long Branch congregation." He concluded by saying: "I 
hope the mother will remember the children and grandchildren that 
God has given her. A mother's prayers never go unanswered. In an- 
swer to prayer God will pour out great blessings upon you, and upon us." 
Rev. Charles D. Buck said he did not pretend to know anything 
abo'at the churches of Monmouth County, but that he had learned a good 
deal through the day. "I come to tell you of a granddaughter which 
is full grown. I feel like a grandchild coming to see its grandmother 
for the first time, and I am pleased to find that she is such a beauti- 
ful, venerable old lady, fresh and youthful as ever. It was a happy 
thought in Brother Welles to bring together the children and recite 
the history of the past, so full of interest, before them. Memory never 
dies. In eternity we will remember the scenes of to-day, and the 
thoughts thus awakened will add a stanza to our anthem of praise." 

As the scenes of that day are recalled, and I look over 
this assembly, my heart aches becatise of the many whose faces 
we shall see on earth no more. Of those who then composed 
the Consistory only two elders and two deacons are still liv- 
ing. Of the elders, Uriah Smock and Milton Smock are 
sleeping with Jesus. Of the deacons, Addison W. Hobart 
and John J. Rue have entered into rest. Elder James E. 
Wells and Selah B. Wells alone remain in the communion 
of the Church. William Spader, who was then treasurer of 
the Church, has also passed over to the better country. Four- 
teen of those who formed the various committees having the 
oversight of the anniversary have joined the general assembly 
and Church of the first born whose names are written in 
Heaven. But this is only a portion of those whom death has 
claimed. We can not enumerate them, but with faith in 
the promises of the blessed gospel we look forward to the 
hour when with them we shall share the everlasting glories 
of the Redeemer's Kingdom. 



92 



XXI. The Sons of the Church in the Ministry 

Of the membership of the Church, three have consecrated 
themselves to the gospel ministry. The first to do so was the 
Rev. William Schenck, who was born October 13, 1740. His 
parents were Court Schenck and Maria Cowenhoven. They 
lived on the fann now occupied by Mr. Uriah Smock, and 
gave their child, William, to God in holy baptism January 20, 
1741. When twenty-three years of age he married Miss 
Anna Cummings, a daughter of Robert Cummings, High 
Sheriff of Monmouth County, and a granddaughter of the wife 
of Rev. William Tennent. He commenced studying for the 
ministry in the fall of 1763, graduated from the College of 
New Jersey at Princeton in 1767, studied theology with Rev. 
William Tennent, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New 
Brunswick in 1770. He was ordained pastor of the Presby- 
terian Church at Allentown, N. J., in 1771. In 1777 he as- 
sumed the pastorate of the Reformed churches of North and 
South Hampton, Pa., where he remained for three years. 
This was his only charge in the Church of his fathers. In 
1780 he removed to Pittsgrove, N. J., and became pastor of 
the Presbyterian Church in which Rev. Benjamin DuBois was 
baptized. After a ministry here of six years, he settled at 
Ballston, near Saratoga. Here he continued until 1793, when 
he removed to Huntington, Long Island. This was his last 
pastorate. In 181 7 he resigned his charge, retired from the 
active duties of the ministry, and moved to Franklin County, 
Ohio, where he died September i, 1823, in the eighty-third 
year of his age. One of his grandsons has for many years 
been an admiral in the United States Navy. 

"He was a man of much personal dignity, and sustained 
a character which challenged the respect of all who knew 
him." His manuscript sermons exhibit mental ability of no 
mean order — clear expositions of divine truth and neatly 
turned sentences. He evidently relied upon God's truth, 
faithfully proclaimed to do God's work. He was a sound, 
evangelical preacher, a venerable, fine-looking gentleman, as 

93 



is testified by a silhouette in the possession of Rev. Garret 
C. Schenck. 

The second son of the Church to enter the ministry was 
the Rev. Garret C. Schenck. He was born at Matawan, 
Monmouth County, N. J., September 14, 1806. He was the 
son of the Hon. De La Fayette Schenck, a highly esteemed 
and respected citizen, widely known and of extended in- 
fluence. 

He graduated from Rutgers College in 1828. During his 
collegiate course he was led to a saving knowledge of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and was received into the communion of the 
Church of his fathers. A short time after his graduation he 
made up his mind to study for the gospel ministry, thinking, 
as he frequently told the writer, that he might by God's grace 
equip himself for preaching the gospel, if nowhere else, at 
least among the illiterate of the Pines of New Jersey. He 
graduated from the Theological Seminary in New Brunswick 
in 1832, and during the year was licensed to preach the gospel 
by the Classis of New Brunswick. 

He commenced his ministerial labors at Marshallville, N. 
J., as a missionary, but in a short time received a call and 
settled as pastor at Walpeck, N. J., in 1833, then at Clover 
Hill, N. J., in 1835, and at Pompton Plains, N. J., in 1837. 

Here he remained an earnest, faithful, laborious pastor, 
loved, honored, and revered, until 1853, when he resigned his 
charge and removed to the Homestead, in Atlantic Township, 
Monmouth County, N. J., where he died, September 17, 1888, 
in the eighty-third year of his age. 

In 1866 he was elected a trustee of Rutgers College, 
and entered upon the duties of the position with a zeal and 
energy inspired by a burning desire to advance the cause of 
Christian education, a work in which he continued until the 
day of his death. 

His ministry at Clover Hill and at Pompton Plains was 
marked with gracious outpourings of the Holy Spirit and large 
accessions to the Church. His preaching was evangelical, 
sound, pointed, and earnest, always spiritual and ever per- 

94 



\ 



vaded with impressive solemnity. The centre of his theology 
was Christ and Him crucified, the friend of the sinner, the 
strength of the saint, the only hope of a perishing race. He 
shunned new departures and held to the old paths, martyr- 
consecrated and God-approved. 

His life as a minister without charge was exceedingly ex- 
emplary, a practical preaching of the truth, an object lesson 
on Godliness. It manifested the beauty of heartfelt piety, and 
exhibited the power of Christian faith, gained for him the 
esteem of all who knew him, the universal conviction that he 
was a good man, and caused him to be revered almost as a 
saint by the Romanists of the neighborhood in which he re- 
sided. His studious habits acquired in the seminary were 
maintained throughout life. He read the Scriptures daily in 
their original languages and delighted in exploring their hid- 
den depths. He kept himself acquainted with the current lit- 
erature of the day and well informed of the advances in every 
department of the world's progress. Well read and thought- 
ful, he was an excellent conversationalist and at all times an 
entertaining and instructive companion. 

The later years of his life were devoted chiefly to genea- 
logical research, in which he became an acknowledged au- 
thority in all matters pertaining to the history of the Dutch 
families of New Jersey. His conscientiousness and reverence 
for the truth assured all who consulted him that his statements 
were not fables or guesses or plausible fancies, but well at- 
tested historic facts. In social and domestic life he was kind, 
considerate, and affectionate, not overindulgent as a parent, 
but ardently loving his wife and children and meriting the 
Lord's commendation of Abraham, "I know him that he will 
command his children and his household after him to 
keep the way of the Lord and to do justice and judgment." 
He was especially careful to have all the family, including 
the laborers on the farm, present at family worship. Now and 
then a Romanist would refuse to comply with the request. 
But when told that those who would not worship with the 
family could not labor for the family, very few persisted in 

95 



their opposition. The greater number complied with the law 
of the household, and were thereby led to revere the piety of 
their God-fearing employer. 

Dominie Schenck's character was so symmetrical, it is dif- 
ficult to mark its peculiarities. He was a true, sincere Chris- 
tian. He had the mind and the spirit of Christ. He served 
God faithfully. In saying this we say all, and can only repeat 
it by referring to some graces which, perhaps, were more con- 
spicuous than others. He was humble and unostentatious — 
content to be godly — caring more for the approbation of his 
own conscience than for the applause and honors of the world. 
Possessing the courage of his convictions, he was immovable 
when contending for what he believed to be right, and fear- 
less when assured that God was with him and for him. His 
conscientiousness was remarkable, and so manifested itself 
that knowing him like the rest of us to be fallible in judg- 
ment, no one ever questioned the honesty or integrity of his 
purpose. Although actively engaged in the afifairs of this life, 
he was a man of deep spirituality and heavenly mindedness. 
He never forgot that he was a Christian. In conversation 
with the writer he once made the remark, "My daily prayer 
is that I may never bring reproach upon the Christian name 
I bear or upon the Saviour whose minister I am." 

The third and last son of the Church to study for the 
ministry was the Rev. Edward P. Livingston. He w'as re- 
ceived into the communion of the Church in December, 1854, 
and, having pursued his classical and theological studies at 
New Brunswick, graduated from the seminary there in 1855. 
He was at once licensed to preach the gospel by the Classis 
of Monmouth, and in a short time was ordained at Griggs- 
town, N. J. This field of labor a sense of duty constrained 
him to relinquish in 1858 and to accept the pastorate of the 
Church at Bushnell, Illinois, where he remained until 1870, 
when he took charge as stated supply of the First Church of 
Pekin, Illinois, from whence he removed in 1883 to Sioux Falls, 
South Dakota. He died September 8, 1885. A few years be- 
fore his death he received the degree of D.D. from his Alma 

96 



]\Iater. He was intimately identified with the domestic mis- 
sionary work of the denomination. Concerning him a friend 
bears the testimony that "he was earnest, laborious, loving, and 
self-sacrificing," and laments the mysterious providence of 
God "which suddenly called him hence in the maturity of his 
powers and from the new field upon which he had lately 
entered." 

"The workmen die; the Head of the Church lives"; their 
labor is not in vain in the Lord, for while they rest from 
their labors their works follow them and their influence abides. 

XXH. Closing Words 

The friends of the Church have to some extent in their last 
will and testament remembered her interests. 

In 1825 there was received for church building purposes 
from the estate of Tunis G. Van Der Veer, deceased, $2,500. 

In 1850 there was received from the estate of Garret 
Wyckofif, deceased, the interest to be applied to the main- 
tenance of the ministry, $1,725. 

In 1859 a legacy was received from William H. Smock, 
deceased, of $200, and in 1877 ^ legacy from Garret S. 
Smock, deceased, of $250, the interest from both to be used 
for the support of the pastor. 

Such examples are worthy of imitation. A few hundred 
dollars thus wisely appropriated are a lasting good. The 
Christian believer, by such gifts, is enabled to proclaim the 
gospel forever on earth, while he is adoring the Saviour who 
loved him, and sought him, and brought him to his own 
bright home in the skies. 

Would it not be well for each of us who believe in Christ 
to secure such a blessing through a liberal bequest for the 
maintenance of the Church our fathers founded ? 

In 1827 there were 80 families in the congregation, and 
only 68 in the communion of the Church, or 12 less than one 
communicant for each family. These are the numbers with 
which commenced the occupancy of this building. Two Re- 

97 



formed Churches have since been formed out of the congre- 
gation, one entirely and the other in part. A Baptist Church 
has been organized in Marlborough village, and a Methodist 
Church in the northern part of the congregation, but this 
year, 1899, the Church reports 84 families and 178 in the com- 
munion of the Church, or ten more than two communicants 
for each family. 

The changes time has wrought have diminished rather 
than increased the population of the territory occupied by the 
congregation, but with the blessing of God have tended to 
the Church's increase ; advancing age, instead of bringing 
decrepitude, has brought greater strength, God has remem- 
bered His covenant promises, and the gospel has proved the 
power of God unto salvation to the children of the covenant. 

In 1709 there were only 50 persons in the county of Mon- 
mouth in the Reformed Church. There are now, according 
to the la^t Synodical report, 1,280. In 1709 there was only 
one Reformed Church. There are now nine, all of them the 
outgrowth of the old Reformed Church of the Navasink. 
Such increase is gratifying. It shows us that the Kingdom of 
God is advancing, and that prophecies in relation to the 
Church's triumph are hastening to their fulfilment. To the 
God of all grace all the praise is due. He gives the increase. 
His presence and favor and blessing are the genial influences 
which secure prosperity. "Except the Lord build the house, 
they labor in vain that build it." "To Him be all the glory." 
The sainted ones who have ministered here cry ever before the 
throne : "To Him be all the glory." From all the churches 
represented here to-day the cry ascends: "To Him be all the 
glory." "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto 
Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever." 

The fact that here, where we are assembled, for nearly 
two centuries, God has graciously been pleased to dwell, the 
gospel has been proclaimed, the sacraments have been admin- 
istered, redeeming grace has abounded, and saving mercy has 
been found, not only justifies these memorial services, but 
proclaims that this is hallowed ground. 

98 



'"What's hallowed ground : 'Tis what gives birth 
To sacred thoughts in souls of worth." 

But where shall thoughts more sacred be born than at the 
shrine of achievements so mighty, or of works so grand that 
they mutely testify: 

"To rear me was the task of power divine, 
Supremest wisdom and primeval love"? 

The memories of the past should awaken gratitude the 
most devout, gratitude that this old Church, venerable with 
age when American independence was achieved, possesses 
still the vigor of youth, with no marks of old age save the 
hoary memories which hang over her brow, a crown of glory ; 
gratitude that since our fathers rallied around the Cross, two 
hundred years ago, the ranks they formed have never been 
broken ; that when the fathers fell in the conflict, their chil- 
dren took their places ; that we have triumphed over the gates 
of death ; that to-day we are marching on, a larger, stronger 
better disciplined army than ever before; gratitude that so 
many now in glory, pointing to this sacred spot can say: 

"Oft the aisle of that old church we trod, 
Guided thither by an angel mother;" 

that we have their example to cheer us, and encourage us, and 
that their presence with God in heaven is now like "a great 
voice from heaven, saying, come up hither." 

Oh, it is worthy of continual gratitude to know that when 
we are following Jesus there is for us a grand reunion with 
those from whom we are descended, a numerous company of 
relatives in heaven ; well may we say : 

"Our boast is not that we deduce our birth, 
From loins enthroned and rulers of the earth, 
But higher far, our proud pretensions rise, 
The sons of fathers passed into the skies." 

' LCfC. 99 



The memories of the past should quicken our diHgence and 
increase our zeal. What God has accomplished through the 
instrumentality of this Church — the souls here won for Jesus 
Christ are but the first fruits of the full harvest ripening for 
us to gather. More than a thousand have here enrolled them- 
selves the followers of Christ, a complete regiment in the 
grand army of the Kingdom of Heaven, following to victory 
and glorious triumph the Captain of our salvation. If we are 
worthy sons of worthy sires, we will "hold the fort," advance 
our pickets, attack the foe boldly, and with zeal unabating 
cease not the good fight until we wear the crown. "Be ye 
steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the 
Lord, for as much as ye know your labor is not in vain in the 
Lord." Forgetfulness may gather over our graves, but what 
we do for God is eternal. The sculptured marble crumbles 
into dust, but neither time nor age destroys the record on high. 
Blessed are those whose names are written in heaven. 



TOO 



HISTORY OF 
THE "OLD BRICK CHURCH" 



BY REV. C. W. VAN ZEE, Ph.D. 

1888-1899 



IN order that the history of this grand old Church might 
be complete to date Dr. Welles has asked me to supplement 

his address with a few words concerning what has taken 
place in the Church life since his retirement from the field. 

The years that have remained to the full rounding out of 
the double century have been but few — twelve — and the events 
which have transpired have not been momentous. 

We are a peaceful and quiet people, living for the most 
part quiet lives ; Church life, like the lives of most individuals, 
runs along for the most part quietly and unostentatiously. 

What the Church has done during the last dozen years, 
and that which from present prospects she bids fair to con- 
tinue in doing, is that she has nobly lived up to the traditions 
and histO'ry of the past. This was always a church-going 
community, from the days of the twenty-mile or more horse- 
back ride through roadless fields and barred gates many, down 
to the present day of improved roads and vastly more com- 
fortable conveyances. 

Taking into consideration the population of the commu- 
nity, the number of available Protestant families, and the num- 
ber of families identified with the Church, we are not ashamed 
of our showing in the matter of Church attendance, nor are 
we afraid to compare results with any other Church of the 
land, whether in city or country, fearing that we shall be at 
a disadvantage. 

True, in actual numbers we may be less, but in propor- 
tionate numbers the average has not in any wise decreased. 

In reviewing these last twelve years it will be necessary 

lOI 



for me to speak of the ministry of the successor to our his- 
torian of to-day and the predecessor of the present pastor. 

From November, 1887, to August 31, 1888, the Church 
passed through the trying ordeal of "trying the spirits," an 
ordeal always trying to the spirits (or candidates) and to the 
people as well. 

But as all things end, so did this vacancy cease to be, for 
God directed to the field one of his servants, then pastor of the 
Reformed Church of Nassau, N. Y., with whom the Consistory 
and people were so well satisfied that on August 31, 1888, 
a call was made out, handed to and accepted by the Rev. 
James Henry Bertholf, who was duly installed October 30 
of the same year. 

Concerning my brother in the gospel ministry who imme- 
diately preceded me in this field, I can say but little because 
I know but little of him, having met him but once, on the floor 
of Classis when our little Church of Highland was the scene 
of experimental preaching efforts. 

This at least in justice I must say, that, judging from the 
oft-repeated expressions of satisfaction from pastoral calling, 
the people of this Church must have enjoyed the services of 
a richly qualified and indefatigable exponent of the true re- 
ligion, who visits the sick and the afflicted in their distress ; 
and, moreover, judging from what is expected in the line of 
pastoral duty from the present incumbent (I will not say 
wrongly expected), the pace set was one hard to follow. 

It was during this pastorate that the beautiful and appre- 
ciated instrument before your eyes to-day, -to the music of 
which we join in praise and thanksgiving to our Father's 
God and ours, was procured and put in place. Too much of 
credit can not be given to the leaders of the movement (both 
of whom are present to-day), whom modesty forbids me men- 
tioning, and to their faithful helpers and the liberal-hearted 
people who made it possible for that most important part of 
Divine worship, the sacred song, to be as melodious and satis- 
factory as it since has been. 

In 1891 the Church was called upon to mourn the de- 

102 



parture of one to whom they had always looked with affection 
and respect, and upon whose shoulders for nineteen years had 
rested the responsibility of the finances of the organization. 
The resolutions of respect, which are upon the minutes, a 
token of the feeling of the people, speak in lasting lines of en- 
dearment concerning the Hon. Wm. Spader, who departed 
this life July 19 in the year 1891. 

Others, too, there were who left the Church militant for 
the Church triumphant — thirty of them our brother laid to 
rest in the grave waiting the resurrection glory of the Christ 
the Redeemer. 

This pastorate, which was not as long as that of our brother 
Dr. Welles, who has just spoken, came to an end September i, 
1892, the formal notice of resignation having been given the 
18th of April preceding. 

We are sorry not to have had our brother Bertholf present 
with us to-day, for he could have spoken of his own work 
better than another; the statistical results are those that have 
been gathered from the records of the Church, faithfully kept 
throughout the pastorate : 

Members received 35 

Confessions 19 

Certificates 16 

Baptized 32 

Died 30 

Again the trying time came, but, as before, the Church 
was faithful to her traditions, regular Sabbath services and 
Church work being performed, though pastorless. 

Among other candidates who preached from Sabbath to 
Sabbath there came down from the Seminary in New Bruns- 
wick early in October, 1892, the present incumbent. 

From that time until the May following the supply with 
the exception of a few Sabbaths was the same. 

The welcome of the people to their hearts and homes was 
warm enough, but that of the bitter winter was decidedly 
otherwise. Long three and four mile rides of a Sunday even- 

103 



mg through fields of snow because of drifted roads, returning 
home in the face of a biting north wind, was a new experience 
to one unused to country Hfe. Nevertheless there was that 
which overcame such chilling reception and brought about 
the present union, which was consummated in ordination ser- 
vice May 24, 1893. 

Of events since that time I would that some one else might 
write, but since the duty is mine I shall seek to tell briefly of 
what has occurred. 

First and foremost, then, let me say with grateful heart 
and to the praise of a devoted people — nothing unpleasant ; all 
has been harmony, peace, mutual love, and esteem. 

Consideration, forbearance with youth and crudity, with 
mistakes (not a few) inseparable from the entrance upon a 
lifework, new and untried, has ever characterized the attitude 
of people toward their pastor and servant in Christ. 

In some respects we have passed through trying times ; 
changes consequent upon the economic evolution through 
which our rural communities throughout the land have been 
passing have left the impress of their effect upon us. The 
tide of life and trade has been increasingly urban. With 
many another Church in like situation we have enriched the 
marts of trade and the thriving churches of the cities with our 
best young blood. The mission of the country church is heroic 
and self-sacrificing and she shall not lose her reward. Through 
the formative period of life she trains and develops the youth, 
building up as best she may the elements of Christian charac- 
ter and manhood, and then giving the life so promising in fu- 
ture power to the all-ingulfing city. 

Those magnificent churches are gainers largely at the 
country's loss, yet she does not wholly complain, for the mis- 
sion is a grand one, the work one in which it is an honor to be 
engaged. 

But, after all. all the best blood does not wander away; 
many remain to keep alive the fire upon the sacred altar of 
their father's God. To such the Church has faithfully minis- 
tered and by such she has been abundantly honored. 

104 



Early in this pastorate it was seen that the accommoda- 
tions for the surprisingly large and regular evening congre- 
gation and workers in Church activities were wofully inade- 
quate at the chapel in the village as it then was. 

By the faithful and untiring labors of the organizations, 
the K. D., the C. E, Society, the Mite Society, and many indi- 
viduals, new lights were provided, a concert grand piano 
bought and put in place, and then at last the long desired and 
much needed alteration and addition came, finished only the 
past spring. Now, thanks to the persistency and loyalty of the 
many, within the Church and outside her membership as well, 
we have in the village a neat and commodious place of wor- 
ship and work, well lighted, well heated, comfortable and con- 
venient throughout ; and, best of all, with so small a debt re- 
maining as to be almost insignificant, a little less than $200. 

Our Dutch forefathers were long-headed if they were 
slow-moving (as many say), and in planting that stake in a 
developing town they proved the wisdom of the foresight in 
the subsequent march of the years. With better equipment, a 
better place in which to work, other work of a necessary char- 
acter will no doubt be prosecuted with the zeal that has char- 
acterized this people of old. 

Improvements in this place have not been many, but, like 
all other good and needed things, will in time come. 

That some improvement has been made in the care of the 
grounds about the church, sacred to many of you because of 
its being the sleeping place of your beloved dead, is apparent 
to you to-day. Only a beginning of a work of beautifying has 
been made, a work made possible by the thoughtful and gen- 
erous bequest of your one time neighbor and fellow citizen, 
the late Wm. Gordon. By his munificent legacy of $5,000 the 
Church is enabled to spend the interest, according to the pro- 
visions of the will, for the purpose of beautifying the ground 
about the church. 

Now that this burden has been so greatly relieved, would 
that God would move some other lover or lovers of this his- 
toric Zion to do the same toward endowing the pulpit of the 

105 



church so that the burden of church support which has in the 
Providence of God fallen upon a few might in some measure 
be lifted and a continuance of life and prosperity for another 
century or more to come be assured. 

We do not wish any one to die in order to make this pos- 
sible ; do it while you live, and there will be no contest con- 
cerning wills. But this is not the time for begging, and this 
is not begging either, simply a hint to the wise which we trust 
will be sufficient. All the stress should not be laid upon the 
material life of the Church, rather the most upon the spiritual 
condition. 

The Holy Spirit has not failed to witness in our midst to 
His power of consecrating the life and converting the soul. 
Owing to the necessary limitations of the field the number of 
additions has not been large, but we are grateful to God for 
the gracious outpouring of His Spirit, and especially of that 
special manifestation of it when He permitted us to welcome 
at the March. 1896, communion 31 members to the household 
of faith. 

Death has entered our midst more than once, especially 
among the ranks of the aged saints of the Lord. Six years 
ago this was a Church noticeable for its number of aged wor- 
shipers ; to-day many are in spirit celebrating with us, but in 
body have departed forever. But on through the years to 
come such names as Conover, Smock, Baird, Carson will be 
associated with others of sainted memory, an inspiration to a 
life of devotion and of zeal for the Master, in the hope that 
with them we too may enter into the joy of our Lord. 

In conclusion allow me to say that we are still alive, a 
hearty, healthful bi-centenarian. Our people are loyal and in 
desire progressive. Church services are well supported and 
Church finances looking up. We are not discouraged, espe- 
cially as we have entered an era of prosperity and expansion 
(as the papers tell us) ; we hope for greater and better things 
in the years to come. 

That you may see at a glance what has been done allow me 



106 



to submit in figures ending with our Church year the results 
of the six years past: 

Members received 63 

By certificate 16 

Confessions 47 

Baptisms 21 

Dismissions 23 

Deaths 45 

Marriages 20 

Present state of congregation — 

Families 84 

Members 178 

Sunday-school members 161 

Moneys — Benevolences $920.40 

Congregational purposes . . . 15,728.28 
Less $5,000 legacy 5,000.00 

$10,728.28 

Average per year $1,788.04 



107 



HISTORY OF THE OLD BRICK CHURCH 
BROUGHT DOWN TO DATE 



BY THE REV. ABRAM I. MARTINE 

1899-1905 



JANUARY 5, 1900, the Rev. Charles W. Van Zee, Ph.D., 
resigned as pastor. The resignation was accepted, and 

Classis granted the request of the two pastors to dissolve 
the pastoral relation, the same to take effect February 15, 
1900. Mr. Van Zee preached his last sermon in the old church 
on Sunday, February 11, 1900, and during the week follow- 
ing removed to Amsterdam, N. Y., he having been called to 
the Trinity Reformed Church of that city. 

The pulpit was not long vacant, for by the last of March 
the Consistory had tendered a call to the present pastor, who 
at that time was serving the Presbyterian Church of Dunellen, 
N. J. The call was accepted, and by the latter part of April 
he had moved to this place and entered upon the work in 
this, to him, new field of labor. His installation as pastor by 
Classis took place May 3, 1900. The Rev. G. Wyckoff, presi- 
dent of Classis, presided and read the form. The charge to 
the people was given by the Rev. Andrew Hageman of the 
Collegiate Church, New York City. The charge to the pastor 
was given by Rev. A. Zabrisky. 

The first sermon of the newly installed pastor was preached 
on Sunday morning, May 6, 1900, from the text found in II 
Tim. iv. 2: "Preach the Word." 

The past five years have been unmarked by any great mani- 
festation of the work of the Holy Spirit, so that we are not 
able to report great numbers added to the Church, but we 
have not been left without some token of His gracious pres- 
ence, for there have been added to the membership of the 

108 



Church 24 names, 16 on confession of their faith and 8 by let- 
ter. During this period of years it has been the privilege of 
the pastor to administer the sacrament of baptism to 14 in- 
fants and I adult, to solemnize 23 marriages, and to officiate 
at 56 funerals, 26 of which were in the bounds of the congre- 
gation and the other 30 in the surrounding towns and villages. 
Among the number of those who have died within the bounds 
of the congregation we make mention of the following: 

Mrs. Sidney Schenck, who died in 1901 at the age of ninety-three 
years, she having been a member of this Church for seventy-one years. 

Mr. John S. Whitlock, who died in 1901 at the age of ninety years, 
he having been called into the eldership of the Church at an early 
period in his Christian experience. 

Mr. Joseph Butcher, Mr. James Wells, Mr. Henry Polhemus, Mr. 
Lafayette G. Schenck, and Mr. David R. Hobart, all of whom had 
served the church in the Consistory as deacons and elders. Mr. Lafay- 
ette G. Schenck also served the Consistory as their clerk for a period of 
twenty-five years. 

Mrs. Catherine Smock, who died in 1904 at the age of seventy- 
eight years, known to all in the congregation by the name of "Aunt 
Kate." She was, like Lydia of old, noted for her good works. While 
yet but a girl she united with the church and became closely identified 
with all the interest of the church, manifesting a lively sympathy by her 
labors of love and her many gifts. 

Miss Alida Wells, who died in 1904 at the age of twenty-seven years. 
Miss Wells had been for several years a teacher in one of the public 
schools of Greater New York, and which vocation she left to prepare 
herself for missionary work. Completing her course of training, she 
offered her services, which were accepted, to the London Mission, on 
the western coast of Africa. We find her in the latter part of May, 
1904, in her field of labor, but only for a short period, for on June 
18 of that same year she passed on to her heavenly home after a very 
brief illness, resulting from an attack of African fever. On June 19 her 
body was laid away by loving hands in the little cemetery at Ro Bethel, 
Africa, there to await the coming of her Saviour. The following is from 
the "Christian and Missionary Alliance" of August 3, 1904: 

"Memorial services were held in the chapel at Marlboro, N. J., on 
Sunday evening, July 24. the Baptist congregation uniting in that ser- 
vice. Rev. Mr. Martine preached from Isaiah Ivii. I, 2, and, with Mrs. 
Martine, sang one of Miss Alida's favorite hymns, 'Face to Face with 
Christ My Saviour,' thus performing the last service in respect to the 
deceased, one beloved by all who knew her." 

109 



In 1903 the Consistory of the Church, learning of the severe illness 
of one of their former pastors, Rev. Charles W. Van Zee, Ph.D., and 
remembering his good v^^orks wrought among them by him when their 
pastor, also being informed by the present pastor of his great love for 
the Old Historic Churchyard, and his expressed wish "that it might 
be the resting place for his body," they generously set aside for him a 
choice spot in front of the door he had so often entered, and adjoining 
the plot where rest the remains of that man of God who had for 
sixty-two years served the people who worshiped here and in the vi- 
cinity — Rev. Benjamin DuBois. 

Rev. Charles W. Van Zee was called from earth August 16, 1903. 
The following is from the "Christian Intelligencer" of August 26, 1903 : 

"The funeral services were held in the Brick Church at Marlboro on 
Wednesday, August 19. The Rev. A. W. Hopper, of Weehawken, a 
close personal friend, conducted the services, reading the Scripture 
and offering prayer. Addresses were made by the Rev. Wm. D. Ward, 
of the Reformed Church of Oyster Bay, and the Rev. Isaac Sperling, 
of South Branch, N. J., both of whom were classmates. The Hon. 
James Fountain, also a classmate, was present. 

"The members of the Consistory bore the body to its earthly resting 
place in the churchyard, only a few feet from the pulpit where, for the 
larger part of his ministry, he preached the Word. The services at the 
grave were conducted by the Rev. A. I. Martine, the pastor of the 
Church, assisted by the Rev. W. H. Williamson." 

In passing we would note this, that in the year 1901 Mrs. Millspaugh, 
widow of the Rev. Alexander C. Millspaugh, who for so many years 
served the Reformed Church of Middletown, died at the residence of 
one of her daughters in Union, N. Y. Her remains were brought on 
to the residence of another daughter, Mrs. J. H. Baird, in Marlboro, 
where burial services were held on Saturday, February 2, 1901. The 
body was then carried to the old Brick Church cemetery and laid by 
the side of her husband, there to await the summons from on high. 

In the year 1904 the necessity of doing- something by way 
of repairs to the windows of the church confronted the Con- 
sistory. The agitation of that question resulted in the appoint- 
ing of a committee to secure designs and estimates as to cost 
for stained glass windows. The committee appointed were 
taken from the Consistory, the congregation, and the Whoso- 
ever Circle of King's Daughters, and are the following: Mr. 
Lafayette Schanck, Mr. Theodore F. Burk, Mr. Charles Con- 
over, Mrs. James H. Baird, and Mrs. Eleanor S. Carson. 

The committee has been at work in discharge of duty as- 

IIO 



signed them, visiting churches in various places to study de- 
signs of windows, meeting with some and communicating with 
others who have made stained windows a special study, so 
that at the time of writing this, March, 1905, there is the as- 
surance that before long the old windows will be replaced with 
new and stained glass ones. 

And now with all the inspiration that comes to one from 
a study of the past we turn our faces toward the future with 
the prayer that we might above all things else be used to the 
glory of God our Father and Christ our Saviour. So help us, 
O Holy Spirit, our comforter and guide. 



Ill 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF MIDDLE- 
TOWN, NOW HOLMDEL, N. J. 



BY REV. GARRETT WYCKOFF, PH.D. 

1825-1905 



THE Church of Middletown having had a corporate ex- 
istence with the Church of Freehold for nearly 125 
years, the history of which has been so ably set forth 
by Dr. Welles, my part will be to trace simply the separate 
organization from 1825 on to the present. 

During all this period this Church has had but four regu- 
larly installed pastors, the first being Rev. Jacob Ten Broeck 
Beekman, whose ministry dates from the organization, 1826 
to 1836; Rev. Wm. Reiley, D.D., 1839 to 1887; Rev. Andrew 
Hageman, 1887 to 1894; Rev. Garret Wyckoff, Ph.D., 1894 
to the present time. 

The organization of this branch of the Church took place 
the 25th of November, 1825, when a committee from the 
Classis of New Brunswick, consisting of Rev. Samuel A. Van 
\'ranken and Henry L. Rice, organized the same with 51 mem- 
bers — the first elders being Garret Smock, Daniel T. Polhemus, 
and John P. Luyster, and the first deacons Garret R. Conover 
and Cornelius B. Smock. 

Mr. Beekman was ordained to the ministry and regularly 
installed as the first pastor of this Church on the 23d of July, 
1826. 

It was his first charge, and he brought to it all the vim and 
ardor of youth, which became apparent by the increased num- 
bers who attended upon his preaching, the numerous addi- 
tions to the Church, and his growing popularity. Forty-two 
persons were added to the Church in one year during his min- 
istry, the year 1832, and 118 in all. One says of him : "He was 

112 



a man of commanding appearance, fine taste, lively imagina- 
tion, and a popular preacher." He was born near Harlingen, 
Somerset County, N. J., April lo, 1801, the son of Samuel 
Beekman and Helen Ten Broeck, his wife ; graduated at 
Union College in the year 1822, and at the Theological Semi- 
nary at New Brunswick 1825, was licensed by the Classis of 
Philadelphia soon after, and ordained as we have noted above. 

That he was a man of progressive views is evidenced by 
the fact of his desire to erect a new church edifice. The old 
church, built in 1764, was becoming dilapidated and unfit for 
use, and very naturally he desired a new one. This resulted 
in such a decided difference of opinion as to lead eventually 
to the erection of two new churches, one at Middletown and 
the other at Holmdel. 

Mr. Beekman married a Miss Crawford of Middletown, 
and when the disruption came he removed thither and the pas- 
toral relation was dissolved. 

His aim in the beginning was not to divide the congrega- 
tion, but in order to meet the growing needs of Middletown 
village to have a collegiate charge, he officiating alternately 
with the co-pastor in both churches, giving the salary with 
the parsonage to the co-pastor and he serving gratis. 

Classis met in 1836, having heard the grievances of both 
sides, dissolved the pastoral relation, and with the petition of 
the residents of Middletown in hand organized a new Church 
in that village. 

Mr. Beekman served the new Church for some time. He 
finally withdrew from the Classis and united with a Pres- 
bytery, and died April 23, 1875, aged seventy-four years. 

In the meantime the old church was vacant and remained 
so for three years. Discord, anarchy, and rebellion ruled. 
Says Dr. Reiley, whose quaint style it is of interest to repeat: 
"If the things done were proper to do, there was no necessity 
of having them all done at once. The people had evidently 
forgotten where to cast the oil. Instead of pouring it on the 
troubled waters of strife and contention, they threw it on the 
smouldering fires of discord. If tongues could have been 

113 



stayed until heads became level, very different results might 
have followed. But in this we have the usual course of 
things in such cases. Every one claimed the right to justify 
himself, and in doing so criminated some other person, and 
thus this one has the right to explain. The quiet retirement 
of the pastor might have seemed called for, when by an overt 
act of his, which he may have felt to be wrong, there w^as 
created such earnest and widespread disaffection. So of the 
building of this new church it was undoubtedly right, but 
could have been postponed for a season." 

The organization of the new Qiurch drew off so many 
from the old that it seemed now to be illy located, so the pro- 
posal to move to the growing village of Baptisttown, now 
Holmdel, was considered and accepted. 

A bequest of $2,500, left to the Church by Mr. Tunis G. 
Vanderveer, over which there was considerable dispute, it 
being claimed by both parties, and was finally declared by 
Classis to belong to the old Church, together with the gifts of 
the people, amounting in all to some $6,125, was utilized for 
this purpose, and a lot was purchased — the one upon which 
the present edifice now stands — for $625 from one Garret 
Wyckoff. It was a mere slough and needed much filling in. 
The building erected cost $5,500, was 62 feet long and 42 
feet wide. The pews numbered sixty-two and were sold at 
auction June 25, 1838. 

While the new church wa's building, preaching services 
still continued to be held in the old one* by one Rev. Fred- 
erick B. Thomson, a commissioned missionary to Java. lie 
was an able expounder of the Word and a ripe scholar. He 
was sent as a supply by the Classis and preached for six 
months. 

He was followed by the Rev. James Otterson, who served 
the Church as a supply until the coming of Dr. ReiJey. 



* Some little time after the dedication of the new church in Holmdel, the old 
buildinp, in which for so many years the Middletown congregation had gathered 
for worship, was removed to the farm of the late Henry L. Holmes, near the 
village of Holmdel. It is still in a fair state of preservation and can be seen by 
those who may desire to see the building in which the earlier settlers of this 
section of Monmouth County worshiped. — Editor. 

114 



Overtures had been made to Dr. Reiley two years before, 
when fresh from the Seminary, to accept the pastorate of the 
Church, but owing to the strife and discord then existing, he 
could not see his way clear to do so. He took a charge at 
Hurley, N. Y., and was there for two years, when, upon the 
overtures being renewed, he accepted the same, and became 
installed as pastor May 26, 1839. 

The installation sermon was preached by the Rev. J. Addi- 
son Van Dorn, from H Cor. iv. 7. The charge to the pastor 
was delivered by the Rev. John C. Van Liew, and to the peo- 
ple by the Rev. James Otterson. 

Dr. Reiley came from Durham, Bucks County, Pa., where 
he was born February 12, 1810. He was a graduate of our 
own college of the class of 1833 and from our seminary in 
1836. He canfe from the German Reformed Church and was 
not to the manor bom. His call stipulated $550 as the salary, 
together with the use of Ihe parsonage, and was signed by 
Garret Smock, John Wyckofif, Kortensius Heyer, and Silas B. 
Crane as elders, and Hendrick P. Bennett and John W. Heyer 
as deacon's. Upon his coming the parsonage was remodeled 
and extensively repaired at a cost of $1,400. 

The congregation numbered 40 families and 50 communi- 
cants, only 8 of whom were males, 34 communicants having 
been dismissed to the new Church of Middletown. Says Dr. 
Reiley, speaking of this period: "The whole aspect of affairs 
was dispiriting to the last degree and the work was one of 
patience and constant toil. A three years' famine of the word 
of God must leave a sad trail of spiritual desolation behind it. 
At best there had been a chance of services once in two weeks, 
and even that was precarious. The Sabbath came largely to be 
a day of pleasure-seeking and visiting, perhaps a day of work- 
ing or of rioting. And when there was preaching the attend- 
ance upon the house of God was sadly small. The long con- 
tinued strife had wearied the patience of some and wounded 
their deepest heart's love. Others were disgusted and ready 
to feel that all religion was vain. While others still, from 
their pursuits in life and their modes of thought thereby en- 

8 115 



gendered, became not only indifferent, but in their hearts hos- 
tile to grace. Many of those who held membership in the 
Church became not only indifferent, but actually hostile and 
refused to attend the word and ordinances." 

For the facts of Dr. Reiley's ministry I am indebted to a 
sermon which he preached upon the fortieth year of his pas- 
torate, of which I have made free use. 

To encourage him during these days of trial, he speaks 
of the unswerving fidelity of the wives and mothers, upon 
whom he bestows high praise. These rallied around the Ark 
of God and sustained him in many ways. Several accessions 
were made by letter from the Brick Church in 1839, ^^^ the 
next year a gracious visitation brought 17 more precious souls 
into the fold. He speaks of the great loss sustained in the next 
year by the death of Elder Silas B. Crane, whose life he con- 
sidered a bright spot in the dark and troublous times through 
which the Church had passed. He refers to him as a man wise 
in counsel, pre-eminent in faith and prayer, the mightiest man 
for God that had dwelt among us. 

In the year 1846 the congregation had so largely increased 
that more pews were in demand. The transepts were accord- 
ingly utilized for this purpose, affording space for six addi- 
tional, which were immediately occupied. 

In 1850 the chapel was built, the need for which had long 
been felt. Only $650 could be raised for this purpose, and the 
project seemed likely to be defeated, since no one would take 
the contract for that amount. But at this juncture Mr. Gil- 
bert Van Mater, ever ready to perform kindly offices, gener- 
ously consented to carry out the project. 

Too much can not be said in praise of Mr. Van Mater's 
generosity, painstaking effort, and long years of service. He 
was superintendent of the Sabbath school for thirty-three 
years and some fitting monument is due to his memory. 

One by one the workers were called home. 1850 records 
the death of Elder John W. Heyer, one of the original mem- 
bers of the Church and a deacon in the old united Consistory 
and one of the signers of Dr. Reiley's call. He was a good 

116 



man and full of the Holy Ghost. He died at the ag-e of 
seventy-four. In the next year there followed him the Elder 
Kortensius Heyer, a faithful soul, much attached to the 
Church, a friend of the minister, and a devout lover of the 
Saviour. 

In the same year the upper windows were again opened, 
and gracious heavenly dew quickened 17 souls. 

In the year 1855 the spirit of improvement again seized 
the people. A new barn was built for the parsonage and 
the fence around the same renewed at a cost of $654. And, 
further still, the cupola of the church was replaced by a be- 
coming steeple and a new bell of 1,000 pounds' weight intro- 
duced in the same at a total cost of $2,222. 

To Dr. Reiley must be given the credit in a great measure 
of the organization of the Church at Colts Neck. For sev- 
eral years he had preached at stated intervals in the school- 
house at Scobeyville — the schoolhouse at Colts Neck being 
refused for the purpose — and one of his elders, Tobias Pol- 
hemus, carried on a flourishing Sabbath school there, but the 
time became ripe for a Church, which was duly organized in 
the year 1856 by sixteen families from the Church of Holmdel, 
two from Freehold, and several from the Brick Church. 

The church was built upon a beautiful plot of ground in 
Colts Neck village, a gift from the children of the Hon. 
Thomas G. Haight. 

Death continued making inroads and took away in the 
year 1856 the elder Garret Smock, who died at the ripe age 
of ninety-one. He was one of the original members of the 
Church in 1825, and had served as an elder in the united Con- 
sistory. He was a man of striking appearance, of erect car- 
riage, a goodly man to look upon, a man of substance, and 
hesitated not to use it for the Lord's cause. He left at his 
death $500 for the use of the Church. 

The year i860 saw the removal of the Elder John Wyckoff, 
also one of the original members, a man of integrity and a 
good Christian, who superintended the building of the new 
church. 

117 



In the same year died also Joseph H. Van Mater, aged 
eighty-four. He did not join the Church until late in life and 
so was not called to serve in its counsels, but is worthy of 
mention, inasmuch as he was always active in its affairs and 
was instrumental in raising the money necessary for the pur- 
chase of tiu" parsonage. 

In the year 1H61 the church was again repaired by the ad- 
dition of a new ceiling and extra supi^rts to the steeple at a 
cost of $r,2tx\ Dr. Reiley himself soliciting the subscriptions 
and the l^lder Isaac Smock faithfully collecting the same. 

Ni>w came also the change of the corixirate title of the 
Church from Middletown to Ilolmdel. The township of IMid- 
dletown. after which the C'hurch had Ikx^u called, had Ix^en 
divided, so that the Church no longer stcxxl within its Ixiunds, 
but in the new town.ship of Ilolmdel. Accordingly, on Janu- 
ary 1. iS(>7. the Consistory executed a new act of incorpora- 
tion, ch;mging the name from the United Reformed Congre- 
gation of Mi(l(llet(nvn to the Reformed Protestant Dutch 
church i.^i 1 liilnulrl, and so entered it in the office of the 
couiiIn clerk. 

Tlie name Ilolmdel was deriveil ivom the two Saxon words 
Holm ami dell hy Richard Ccxike, the change being neces- 
sary through the instigation of the postal authorities, for 
there was another I'aptisttown within the State, "the mean- 
ing of which whi-n put together made a very near e([uivalent 
to Pleasant \allev." 

The beautiful communion seivice. which has been in con- 
stant use since its donation in 1S05, was the gift of Miss Sarah 
l-llizabeth Cooke, onlv daughter of Or. R. W. Cooke, who pre- 
sented it to the Chnieh .1 short time before her death, and 
thus it served as a very tilting memorial to her devotion and 
faith. 

.\ strong atlachmeiU seems to have existed on the part of 
Or. Reiley for the original Consistory which called him, for 
the characteristics of these men he connnents uy>on at length. 

.Again he mentions the ileath of F.Uler TTendrick IT. Ren- 
net!, who died in the year iSoS at the ripe old age of ninety- 

118 



two. He stylos him the Old Mortality of the congregation ; 
sjx^aks of him as an authority uiwn names, dates, and persons ; 
IK>ssossing a jXM'sonal knowledge of all who ha(l Ikoii received 
into the Church since its inception. He had heen a deacon 
in the oKl united Consistory and also in the new Ciiurch 
when Pr. Reiley came, and in every way showed interest and 
faith. 

Also Feter R. Smock, who died in 1870. He held the ofRce 
of Church treasurer for twenty-two years. He speaks of him 
as a man generous, faithful, a friend of the minister and of 
the poor; deeply sensitive to human suffering, skilful in al- 
laying et>mities. and whose death was widely deplored. 

In the year 1872 the parsonage was again rei>aired. the 
last wing rebuilt and a good drainage effected, tending much 
to the improvement of the property and enhancing the value 
thereof. 

In 1S74 died the Elder Holmes \'an Mater. He hatl been 
deeply attached to the Church, was faithful in every way. an 
rrdcnt lover of the truth, and one who stnight the good of 
Zion. 

Tn 1876 all the tithes were bi\>ught intx? the storehouse 
and an abmidant blessing resulted. 

In summing up the record of his forty years as a pastor, 
Dr. l\eile\ especially mentions the sjiirit of peace and harmony 
which prevailed dvuing all those years, and how hearty was 
the co-operation of Consistory and people in everything tend- 
ing to the jirosperity of the Church. He felt that the Church 
had exercised a jlronounced gixnl. morally, upon the comnut- 
uit\ , seen especially in the increased respect for the Sabbath 
and tloeper regard for law and order. 

There had been also a gradual growth of tlie benevolent 
spirit. In 1852 were established the monthly collections for 
benevolence, and which up to 1870 amounted in all to $S,,/2y.2(), 
an average of $311.75 per year, beginning in 1852 with $208.79 
and ending in 187*) with $308. 

Previous to 1852 also many hundred dollars had been con- 
tributed for the building of the churches of Key[X)rt and Long 

119 



Branch, and at different times over $i,ooo was raised for the 
college and seminary at New Brunswick. 

During Dr. Reiley's pastorate of forty years 278 persons 
were added on confession of their faith and 61 by letter, mak- 
ing in all received a total of 339. By decades was received in 
the first ten years 75, in the second 78, in the third 73, in the 
fourth 113. 

The marriages solemnized amounted to 237. Concluding, 
Dr. Reiley says, "The dead who shall number when nearly 
all are dead? As far as I can remember, there is but one 
house in the whole congregation in which service for the 
dead has not been held. If this be so, the favored head of 
this house can make grateful acknowledgment of the Divine 
forbearance to-day. Not one of the elders or deacons of the 
hour survives. Not more than two men who were married 
in 1839 have survived the wreck of matter which death bars 
wrought ; and it would be interesting to know how many per- 
sons grown to adult years at that time still survive. And 
for the rest, brethren, as the apostle says, the time is short." 

During the remaining eight years that Dr. Reiley contin- 
ued as the active pastor of the Church over $2,700 was raised 
for benevolent purposes and about $11,000 for congregational, 
thus showing a growing increase in benevolence and no lack 
of interest on the part of the people in the support of their 
Church. 

In 1879 ^" average of $2,700 was with comm'endable push 
and zeal raised through the efforts of Mr. W. W. Taylor and 
Mr. M. V. D. Polhemus, a committee appointed by Consis- 
tory for the purpose. 

In 1 88 1 died one who had been the Church treasurer for 
seventeen years and served successively as elder and deacon, 
concerning whom the minutes of Consistory reads : "In all 
his works and ways, he was kind, sympathetic, faithful, and 
earnest in the discharge of his duties. A man of faith and 
patience, and the remembrance of him and of his works will 
be long cherished among us — in the perjion of Mr. Kortensius 
C. Heyer, who died September 21, 1881." 

120 



In 1884 came two memorable gifts to the Church. One 
in the person of Mrs, Isaac G. Smock, who gave in memory 
of her daughter, Margaret Van Deventer, a handsome set of 
pulpit furniture. The other, a bequest of $1,000, from Mrs. 
Eleanor Holmes, which, together with moneys contributed by 
her daughter Huldah, was utilized in placing an iron fence 
around the churchyard and putting down necessary flagging 
and walks. 

Dr. Reiley continued in the active pastorate of the Church 
until 1887, when growing infirmities made his resignation im- 
perative. Classis released him and declared him pastor emer- 
itus, and he continued so until the day of his' death, July 14, 
1894, making 4iis total pastorate cover a period of fifty-five 
years, his active pastorate forty-eight years. 

Upon his retirement, the Church gave him $1,000 and con- 
tinued each year to bestow upon him donations of money and 
necessities. 

The attachment of the people for their aged friend con- 
tinued generous and strong until the last, and the memory of 
his blameless life still remains as a potent inspiration. 

A fine monument, erected by the congregation upon the 
brow of the hill overlooking the village, serves as an abiding 
testimony to their appreciation ; and they have had fittingly 
inscribed upon it his last words, which were, "I hope that my 
grave will go on preaching to those whose souls I have de- 
sired." 

Dr. Reiley was a wonderful man in many ways. T'he 
spirit of benevolence so largely characteristic of this Church 
was fostered and brought to its present commendable state 
by him. 

He sought with avidity to extend the kingdom of God, 
and thus became instrumental in organizing the Reformed 
churches of Freehold, Colts Neck, Keyport, and Long Branch. 

He became also the originator of the Classis of Mon- 
mouth. He was always an active member of the Bible So- 
ciety, and succeeded in raising large amounts from his Church 
for this cause. 

121 



His preaching was with power, and fidelity characterized 
his pastoral work. His scholarly attainments were recognized 
by the college from which he graduated, for in 1857 it con- 
ferred uf)on him the honorar}^ title of Doctor of Divinity. So 
the words of James Montgomery have no more fitting in- 
stance : 

"Servant of God, well done. 
Rest from thy loved employ; 
The battle fought, the victory won, 
Enter thy Master's joy." 

Rev. Andrew Hageman became pastor in 1887. He was 
a graduate of our own college and seminary, and had served 
very acceptably the Reformed Church of Queens, L. I., since 
his graduation in 1874. He came in a time before the tide 
of emigration from country to city had set in so strong, before 
death and removal had wrought such sad havoc with the mem- 
bership, when agricultural interests were more prosperous 
than at present and the opportunity ripe for a large ingath- 
ering, consequently his ministry of six years was abundantly 
fruitful. 

One hundred and four persons were added to the member- 
ship of the Church, about $4,000 was raised for benevolence, 
and over $13,000 for congregational expenses. 

The chapel was enlarged, beautified, and furnished, the 
church property improved in many ways, and new hymn- 
books, the gift of Prof. John Smock, introduced. He brought 
to the Church a ripe experience, mature judgment, and ex- 
pedient methods. His hold upon the people was . magnetic. 
His preaching was with power and in demonstration of the 
spirit. Nearly every communion service witnessed numerous 
additions to the Church ; and it was with deep regret that in 
1894 the people were asked to part with him. 

The present pastor was installed February 7, 1894. He 
had served for nearly seven years the Reformed Church of 
Metuchen, N. J., a graduate of our own college and seminary. 
Thus far during his pastorate, to April i, 1905, 80 persons 
have been added to the Church. $3,200 raised for benevolence 

122 



and $29,200 for congregational expenses, making the total 
benevolence of the Church since 1852, the time of the first 
data, to be $16,700. In 1897 the church was remodeled at 
an expense of $10,000. The building was enlarged by the ad- 
dition of 12 feet to the rear, sufficient for the introduction of 
a pipe organ and a pastor's retiring room. The old plaster 
ceiling gave way to a new one of steel of ornamental design. 
Handsome memorial stained glass windows were substituted 
for the plain glass. The old pews were sold and new ones of 
quartered oak, circular in form and of exquisite design, took 
their place. The pulpit was changed from the front to the 
rear of the church and was surmounted by an alcove. The 
floor covered with a rich carpet of Brussels of newest pat- 
tern. The heating apparatus was changed from stoves un- 
sightly to a furnace underneath the church. Slate was put 
upon steeple and roof and the whole painted within and with- 
out artistically. 

The church was reopened for service on Sabbath after- 
noon, February 14, 1897, and was thronged by neighbors and 
friends, who came to rejoice with us over the happy event. 
Neighboring clergymen participated in the exercises. 

And now the history of a Church's life of seventy-five 
years, save one, is finished. Much more might have been 
appropriately said, but time and space forbid. Where all 
have done so well comparisons become odious. I would like 
to speak of the munificent individual gifts made for the re- 
modeling of the church ; but the characteristics of the persons 
are such that to mention their names would not meet with 
their approval. I have endeavored to avoid distinctions. 
Those that have been made were made by another hand. He 
was treating of the early struggles of the Church. With the 
present we are familiar. It must be left to another hand to 
glorify the acts of the living. 

Shall the history of the future be as encouraging as the 
past? Let us hope and pray that it may. Let us hope that 
the ominous signs now apparent, in the trend of the popula- 
tion to villages and cities, the depreciation of agricultural in- 

123 



terests, the void made by death and removal, and the intro- 
duction of the people of another faith among us are simply 
shadows having no permanent reality. 

But for us it remains to wisely improve the present and 
go forth to meet the shadowy future without a fear, with 
a firm reliance upon Him who ordereth all things right. 



124 



GREETINGS 
FROM DELEGATED REPRESENTATIVES 



RUTGERS COLLEGE 
REV. PROF. JACOB COOPER, D.C.L., LL.D. 

Mothers and Sisters, Fathers and Brethren: 

IT is my great pleasure to be the bearer of congratulations 
from Rutgers College to the venerable Church of Marl- 
boro on this the brightest of all the high days in her his- 
tory. I bring the greetings of one venerable lady to another 
still more weighted with years. This is the only case in my 
experience with the sex where a lady, somewhat advanced in 
life, is willing to acknowledge her age ; and certainly an un- 
heard-of wonder when she is anxious to make herself older 
than the family record declares. Yet such, mothers and sis- 
ters, is the case. Rutgers College has been doing her level 
best for some time past by juggling with figxires to prove that 
she was born in 1766; while Dr. Cor win, who knows every 
event of whatsoever sort in the history of the Dutch Church 
since the Ark rested on the Highlands of Navesink, has posi- 
tively fixed her nativity in the year 1770. And dear old 
Marlboro, the mother of our Vice-President and enough other 
worthies to fill up all the time allotted to me in naming, admits 
to the census taker without a blush her full two hundred 
years ! Tell this not in New Brunswick ! Announce it not 
along the macadamized highways of Monmouth, lest the 
daughters of Freehold scornfully toss their plumes and con- 
tract their fair faces into a scowl ! 

Yet these ladies, though so old in years, and the mothers 
of so many children, are still in their prime ; and, like all good' 
people, get more beautiful as they grow older; for they have 

125 



the traces of noble deeds written in their faces as well as in 
their character. They have been companions, close and sis- 
terly. Marlboro has given to Rutgers Professors Van Vran- 
ken, Reiley, Smock, and many more, with a constant suc- 
cession of students, the quality of whom can be estimated by 
the specimens : Hobart, Hobart ; Reiley, Reiley ; Dennis, Den- 
nis. And the best of it is that they came like Leah's children, 
in troops. Here let me say that the gratitude of Rutgers to 
Marlboro is more than the proverbial "lively anticipation of 
favors to come" ; for her expectation is coupled with the 
thanks for a realized fact. 

Yes, dear old Marlboro ! Thy sister Rutgers greets thee 
on this high day ! Well may we congratulate this venerable 
Church. Tivo hundred years of faithful preaching of tJie 
gospel! How many souls have been bom into the kingdom, 
and nurtured here for the service of immortality, while made 
efficient by sound doctrine for doing good to the world ! 
What a joy to think of the long line of devoted preachers of 
the Word, and elders whose services rendered them "worthy 
of double honor" ; of numbers who were exemplars of right- 
eousness, who lived and labored here, and whose dust reposes 
in the peace of "God's acre" ; who have been beacon lights of 
truth both here and in the many and strange offshoots which 
have grown out of our mother's side ! Not only Freehold, 
Holmdel, Middletown, but "in the parts beyond" the stream 
of living truth has flowed out like the river in Ezekiel's vision, 
where "everything liveth whither their waters come" ! 

Old churches, whether in country or city, are liable to 
become depleted by migration or change of population by the 
trend of business and consequent removals. The old organi- 
zations get discouraged because of death or change of lo- 
cality of their important supporters ; they grow weak finan- 
cially as well as in numbers. It is only a rare case in such 
an uneasy and changing population as ours that a Church 
can hold its own for two centuries. This mother Church is 
to be congratulated on her strength to-day. She seems to 
share in the power of an endless life. For her bow abides in 

126 



strength because her "hands are made strong by the mighty 
God of Israel." She rejoices in her daughters, who are to- 
day stronger in the numbers of their households and their 
material prosperity than she the parent. But no true mother 
is jealous of the prosperous child, except the Chicago mother, 
and she was the mother-in-law who eloped with her son-in- 
law ! 

We lose sight of the fact that in cases where an old 
Church grows weak by removals those who depart from 
her bounds do not leave their religion behind them. They 
go, it may be, to distant States ; to communities where there 
are no churches of any name. They unite, where they have 
opportunity, with churches of another name and make them 
strong. They found new organizations, carrying with them 
the faith of their fathers and the light of the gospel to fron- 
tier settlements, and leaven new peoples ; but with the same 
sound doctrine they were taught in the old Church home. 
Dear old Marlboro ! How many churches have been founded 
by thee our historian has told us to-day. But no historian, 
save Him who keeps the record of the Book of Life, can tell 
how many churches, how many communities have been 
strengthened in numbers and refreshed by the pure doctrines 
of those who received their first impulse toward Heaven by 
what they were taught in this place. For this Church has 
been a repository of sound doctrine. It has been conserva- 
tive, like the Dutch Church generally. This is the day of 
"isms,'' of "fads" in doctrine as well as in the cut of gar- 
ments. Some have such a hankering after what is new that 
they allow "every wind of doctrine" to blow them not only out 
of sight of their former moorings, but out on an undiscovered 
and stormy sea without the chart of a confession of faith, 
or the compass of an inerrant revelation. The Dutch Church 
glories in her conservatism. She is not afraid of the truth, 
from whatever source it may come. For there can be no 
conflict between science and revelation. Since they come from 
the same source they are the inspiration of the same Divine 
Author. But there must be a fixed and solid earth to move 

127 



upon, else the locomotive can not advance. There must be 
fundamental truths in all sciences as well as in all forms of 
religion, as fixed as the axioms of geometry, as inerrant as 
the multiplication table. The Dutch Church believes in Hei- 
delberg and Dort ; in an inspiration which is absolutely true ; 
in a written Word which the higher criticism can not fritter 
away until there is nothing left but shreds and patches and 
the scarecrow of a Polychrome Bible. We do not believe that 
each critic can evolve the Bible out of his inner conscious- 
ness, with the absurd spectacle that no two agree in what con- 
stitutes the caput mortunm remaining after the written Word 
has been shredded by their dissecting knife, and boiled down 
in their witches' caldron. I rejoice in the conservatism of this 
Church of Dort and Heidelberg; and while no person advo- 
cates more strenuously by precept or example the dut}' of 
consulting and interpreting the original Scriptures, yet we 
must start with the fact that we have a Bible that claims to 
be inspired ; that if this claim is not true, then its contents are 
not reliable; that its prophets were mere enthusiasts, who, 
as they were themselves deceived, must, of course, deceive 
others. For this is really the alternative. We believe in an 
inerrant Bible which contains truths above reason just as the 
Book of Nature is inerrant, but contains truths not only be- 
yond comprehension now, but will be an unfinished task for 
the investigator and the seons to come. But each Book must 
be touched with reverent hands. We must come to them both 
with the assurance that they contain the sum of all truth 
and many facts which are beyond our comprehension and 
must be renewed by faith. We therefore must hearken to what 
they have to say to us, not tell them what they ought to say, 
nor insinuate that we could concoct a cunningly devised fable 
that would be more true to nature and to the needs of the 
human soul than what the Author of nature and the Creator 
of the soul has given into our keeping to handle with rev- 
erent hands ! 

Yes, the Dutch Church has been the repository and con- 
servator of the Faith once delivered to the saints. Your 

128 



speaker has the right to express his opinion on this matter, 
for he can speak without prejudice. He is an outsider, with 
no affiliation of blood or lineage with that grand people of 
whom it has been said in mockery : The Dutch took Holland ! 
Yes, they took Holland; rescued it from the sea by dikes and 
pumping; rescued it from the brutal and bigoted Spaniard 
with their good broadswords and firelocks, their brawn and 
their gospel. Having no kinship by blood, I can give an un- 
prejudiced judgment. My people came with Perm to West 
Jersey, bringing with them a pure faith, and yet a toleration 
for those who differed in doctrine from themselves ; while the 
Dutchman came to bring the same blessings to the eastern 
shore. The assertion is made without fear of disproof that 
no one of the evangelical churches of our land has kept s^ 
steadily to the pole star of Biblical truth as the Hollander. 
And yet they do not lack scholarship. Erasmus and Grotius 
were in the forefront of Biblical learning in the Reformation 
era. Tayler Lewis, Chambers, and Kuyper are the peers of 
any in this generation, which boasts of its Biblical knowledge. 
The Dutchman is sometimes regarded as slow ; but some- 
how he "gets there all the same." The Scotchman is often 
called "canny," and it is reported that he always "has an eye 
to the main chance." But if the Hollander does not make as 
much noise in his movements, he does certainly, like the bird 
of wisdom, "do a power of thinking." He believes that the 
good things of this world belong to "the people of the saints 
of the Most High" ; that "godliness is profitable for all things ; 
"having the promise of the life that now is and of that which 
is to come." The shrewdness of Harman is shown in the se- 
lection of this choice locality of Marlboro. After the Ark 
had journeyed, according to the veracious college song of Rut- 
gers, from Barnegat to Navesink — that is, the place which 
Neversinks — as Noah, the captain of the craft, sat out on the 
roof after the deluge ceased, and "spread his coat-tail for a 
sail," when the anchor was cast on the Highlands, the door 
was opened and the Dutchman came here the second time by 
a sort of natural instinct. For is it not plain to every one 

129 



who has eyes to see that in this particular spot of Monmouth 
was originally the Garden of Eden? When I visit my friend 
Holmes V. M. Dennis' farm, I am quite certain that it has all 
the external features and all the qualities of soil to make it a 
veritable Paradise. Coming as an interloper from the West 
Jersey Quakers, who also, it is hinted, despite all their plain- 
ness and quietness, "know a good thing when they see it" — quite 
as well as the Dutchman — I am so struck with the Eden-like 
appearance of my friend's farm that I am in constant danger 
of transgressing the commandment, "Thou shalt not covet any- 
thing that is thy neighbor's," even his Monmouth farm ! 

Verily, mothers and sisters, fathers and brethren, I con- 
gratulate your grand old Church on its people, its land, its 
doctrine ; the men and women it has sent forth to bless the 
nations, and the many other churches it has sent out through- 
out our whole country ; and on those who still remain at the 
old home to carry on the same noble work that has been done 
here for two hundred years. The Elect Lady is as vigorous 
at two hundred as at sweet sixteen ; or like Irving's descrip- 
tion of a genuine Dutch woman when she is fat, fair, and 
forty. May she flourish for two hundred years more ; and 
when that day of celebration arrives, may she be as fair and 
as free from blemish and wrinkle as she is to-day ; and may 
she have as joyous a festival then and a better greeting than 
mine from Rutgers. May she have another as good line of 
pastors as the foregoing, and an under-shepherd who shall 
embody as thoroughly as the present one the true idea of the 
land and people of Holland: Van Zee, "saved from the sea!" 

There is only one regret felt by him who brings these 
greetings. He could not come early in the day to enjoy with 
you to the full this rich and varied programme. He is tardy! 
You, younger brethren, who have arranged and filled up this 
inviting feast, have often been marked Tardy by me at Rut- 
gers. I can see you — Shall names be divulged ? No ; that 
would be invidious ; and it will be left to your consciences and 
your memories to plead guilty. I can see you still, "in my 
mind's eye," as you came breathless into the recitation room, 

1^0 



and hurried up to my desk, saying: "Excuse me, I zms de- 
tained," just as you saw me a few moments since, elbowing 
my way through the dense crowd to claim my place. Now 
you have your revenge for the many tardy marks on my col- 
lege roll. But there is a slight difference. You would not tell 
why you were tardy. Possibly your excuse would not bear 
the light of day. Mine will. There was a duty to perform 
at Rutgers, to lead chapel service, and to teach before start- 
ing. This made me late. But nevertheless, after tribulation 
on the road, I got here, as you see and hear; and the old 
lady, Queen Rutgers, congratulates with all her heart her 
"elect sister, whom she loves in the truth." 



131 



NEW BRUNSWICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 



REV. PROF. J. P. SEARLE, D. D. 



I AM here to-day because the Seminary I have the honor 
to represent appreciates very highly the courtesy of the 
invitation you have sent us, and still more highly the im- 
portance and significance of the celebration itself to which 
that invitation has summoned us. That in the midst of the 
busy preparations for this day you should have thought of 
the company of your quiet fellow workers in the service of 
our Reformed Church at New Brunswick is to them a grate- 
ful fact. That you have set apart a season from the rush of 
to-day's life, have turned your eyes backward for a moment 
from the brilliant hopes and swift fruitions which are attract- 
ing all imaginations toward the future, to honor the sacrifice 
and service of your dead fathers, to study the forces which 
under God have made the present what it is and have given 
to the future its almost certain splendors, to thank your God 
for the great things which He has done for you, is to command 
the sympathetic interest of all who believe that God's hand 
is in His people's history, and especially of those who believe 
that His hand has been in our Church's progress and is with 
us still. And so I bring to you on this two hundredth anniver- 
sary the cordial congratulations of New Brunswick Seminary 
upon all these years of labor and of fruitage described so lov- 
ingly and so skilfully in part in your published history and 
in the summarized and completed portrayal to which you lis- 
tened at the morning service. 

It was my wont, in the happy days when I was the pastor 
of one of these ancient New Jersey Dutch churches, when 

132 



some occasion similar to this offered the opportunity, to point 
to the contrast between the beginnings on the one hand and 
the results on the other, that this contrast might furnish in- 
spiration to faith and incentive to faithfulness. My brethren, 
let not the lesson of this contrast as it may be drawn in your 
own history escape you. The foundation layers here could 
not foresee the works, their works, which should follow after 
them, and which we, though we see them only in part, admire 
so much to-day. In no greater measure can we foresee the 
works, our works, which shall follow after us, if in like faith 
and patience we labor, but others shall understand and shall 
in like manner wonder at the mighty power which God lends 
to finite but consecrated endeavor. "He that goeth forth and 
weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again 
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." The promise 
has been proven true as it came to your fathers long ago. It 
still is true. Let us bear forth the precious seed. Let us be in 
dead earnest in our sowing, and we too shall rejoice when the 
certain harvest shall appear. 

But there is another thought connected with this turning 
point between the centuries of your history which you may 
permit me, as one of your professors of theology, to ^ress 
home upon your thought. 

You have had two hundred years of preaching. Twelve 
ministers, besides the three so instrumental in the founding 
of your Church, have served }'ou here, some of them giving 
you the best years of their lives. They have been men of a 
fine average of talent, and some could be characterized by 
stronger terms, for they have made an enduring name in the 
Church at large. They have all been furnished you by sister 
churches. What have you done by way of return in kind? 
You have indeed sent forth three honored men into the min- 
istry who have wrought, all told, something less than ninety 
years, of which a little more than sixty have been in the pulpits 
of our own Reformed Church. Is this just fair to the other 
churches? Is it all that you could have done? Surely your 
sons have not been lacking in their gifts. Our State, our whole 

133 



land, have felt the forceful influence of their talents. Why 
not, oh Christian fathers and mothers, give some of them to 
the work of the ministry? That work is to be harder than it 
has ever been. Its earthly rewards are to be possibly less cer-^ 
tain. But its importance and the possibility of its spiritual, its 
eternal compensations, are also to be far greater than they have 
ever been. And as you think and pray over the question of 
your duty to the Church of Christ, in view of the coming and 
near day of intense conflict for the preservation of the truth, 
of strenuous effort for the world's conversion, remember that 
the blemished offering is never acceptable to God. He re- 
quires and His work demands the very best you have to give» 



134 



THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF NEW YORK 



REV. ANDREW HAGEMAN, OF NEW YORK, FORMERLY 
PASTOR OF HOLMDEL REFORMED CHURCH 



THERE are two prominent reasons which bring me to 
this delightful and exceptional gathering to-day. 

First, to convey to you the hearty salutations and 
tender congratulations of the venerable Collegiate Church of 
New York City, which had rounded out its seventy years (the 
allotted time of human life) before you were born ; which, in 
fact, is the oldest Protestant Church organization with a con- 
tinuous history in America. Organized in 1628, its succes- 
sion of ministers has been unbroken during all these two hun- 
dred and seventy-one years. With her eight worshiping places 
in the heart of the greatest city on this continent, building her 
sanctuaries on the avenues of the rich, and erecting her insti- 
tutional churches in the more neglected portions, where the 
poor are congregated, she has sought to solve and is helping 
to solve the problem of the masses and classes. 

This Church speaks to you this afternoon through me her 
love, her joy, her interest in all that you have been and done, 
and for all that you give promise of being and doing. 

In the name of 16 ministers, 3,600 communicants, and as 
many Sunday-school children, I greet you and congratulate 
you upon the past, and bid you God-speed for the future. 

A second reason for my coming to-day is a more personal 
one. As a former pastor of one of these churches, I rejoice 
to speak my own word of congratulation and greeting to these 
venerable and time-honored churches. 

I look back to-day with pride and joy to the six years of 

13s 



my ministerial life spent in active and successful service in 
the Church at Holmdel. 

Coming to that field after the long and faithful service of 
Dr. Reiley, who for forty-seven years had so thoroughly indoc- 
trinated the people with the truths of the gospel — sowing lib- 
erally and well the seed of the Word — I found my ministry 
made extra precious and joyful because there was so much 
reaping in it. He had not sown sparingly, and I had the 
pleasure of reaping abundantly. 

He had lived to see the children and the children's chil- 
dren of those who called him to serve them grown up to man- 
hood and womanhood, and he had seen to it also that they had 
been fed upon the living bread ; so that when the earnest and 
honest appeal came from younger lips, after his grew silent 
with infirmity and age, a large number of them yielded to the 
Spirit's call and power. 

A delightful experience to me, but due largely, I believe, 
under God, to the man who sowed the seed and who watered 
it doubtless with his prayers and tears. 

I am glad to-day, with all the ex-pastors of these churches, 
that a little of my life and strength and joy has been mingled 
in the scenes which make up the history of this Church life 
which we now celebrate. 

I am impressed more than ever to-day with the power and 
influence of a Church's life upon the community where it is 
located. 

Whether in the heart of a great city, or in the centre of a 
section of country, than which there is scarcely another in our 
land more fertile and productive, the Church wields a power 
and exerts an influence which is seen and felt and known. 
Within her are the best, the purest, the holiest, the noblest 
lives which the world ever sees. 

I am not speaking of the miserable apologies and of so- 
called Christians at which the world justly sneers, but of 
those who are really seeking to live like Christ — and there is 
a vast and mighty host of them in our churches after all the 
just criticism of the world has been passed. 

136 



Just think of what an influence these two churches have 
had upon this county — multiplying themselves into other 
churches, composing now an entire Classis in our denomina- 
tion ; taking possession of convenient points, and thus better 
serving the people. 

Recall, too, how the social life of these villages is centred 
in these worshiping places. 

The young look to the Church, and look to her wisely and 
with reason, for their secular life, training, and enjoyments. 
And it is a wonderful privilege and power which churches like 
these thus possess in guiding and educating the tastes and 
elevating the moral tone of the community. 

Bear in mind, too, the broader influence of these churches, 
as they have sent forth of their means, and supplemented it 
with their prayers, and made their giving intelligent with 
their faithful study of God's harvest-field. Who can ever 
fully tell what these churches, now entering upon their third 
century of life, have done to fulfil the prayer of Christ to go 
into all the world and preach the gospel, and thus to bring to 
Christ those soul-satisfactions for which He yearns so much. 

The self -perpetuating power of the Church also im- 
presses us. 

Instead of the fathers, have been, and are. and will be the 
children. What a momentum for good has been attained by 
these churches during these two centuries ! 

What a deposit for God they have left behind them in this 



region 



A few decades of years ago upon the surrounding farms 
throughout this section of country was discovered and put to 
use, by means of the skill and thought and experiment of ear- 
nest men, these rich marl beds which have been such a source 
of wealth to you in your fanning industries. 

It still required of you hard work and constant toil to 
bring about these abundant and bountiful results, but the 
means of temporal enrichment were discovered and at hand. 
Those of you who freely used these discovered sources of fer- 
tility rejoice to-day in their benefits. 

137 



So to-day, as these two centuries of Church Hfe have been 
reviewed, and presented unto us in such vivid language, and 
we learn of so much that has been done in service for Christ 
here, is there not a heritage ; is there not a deposit of bless- 
ing left for these congregations to draw from which will 
wondrously enrich ? 

God grant that you may enter into and profit by the wisdom 
and the labor of all the faithful ones who have gone before you 
in such abundant service. Oh, what inspiration and cheer to 
you, as you recall the prayers and tears and longings and de- 
sires and results and fruits of the faithful ones gone before ! 

Though translated from the Church, struggling and fight- 
ing against the evil with which she is here surrounded, to the 
Church triumphant, where no sin-struggles baffle the aspira- 
tions of the worshiping soul, yet their works follow them here 
before our eyes ; they yet speak clearly and distinctly unto us. 

Doubt you that they rejoice to-day with us with purer 
joy and clearer vision of the end even from the beginning? 

With so much given unto us, with so much that is beautiful 
and true in Christian life wrought into the very life of these 
churches, does not God in this present require of us better 
things henceforth because of this very past? 

We receive a wondrous heritage from this past, we must 
therefore preserve it and magnify it and multiply it as we 
pass it on to those inheriting from us. 

For "God requires of each one of us the past." And God 
requires of these churches, as of all our churches, to touch 
so powerfully with their purified life the world about them, 
that they will preserve life, and stay the powers of corrup- 
tion, and stop the awful march of desolating and death-pro- 
ducing evils. 

God grant that the history of this your third century of 
Church life may be written with deeds of valor for Christ, 
and of faith in God, and of willingness to be led as the Spirit 
directs. 

This is the wish and prayer of one a little of whose life 
and service has been infolded with your past life. 

138 



THE CLASSIS OF MONMOUTH 



REV. PETER STRYKER, D. D. 



THE young bow with reverence and love to the aged. 
I bring you, first of all, the greetings of the latest born 
Church of the Classis of Monmouth, the Grand Avenue 
Reformed Church of Asbury Park. I know not why I have 
been honored by an appointment to represent the Classis to- 
day, unless it is because I am pastor of the youngest Church 
on the roll. And it is fitting that from the city of the sea, and 
the Church yovi located there in 1876, the centennial year in 
the history of our country, the voice of salutation should be 
heard. I suppose ours is the grandchild or great-grandchild 
of this venerable couple. 

But I also speak for the other churches of the Classis, 
going backward in the order of their organization, beginning 
with the youngest. I speak for the Highlands, organized in 
1875, and now giving evidence of new life and energy-; for 
Colts Neck, which has been steadily running its race and 
shaking its mane since 1856; for Long Branch, which began 
its existence in 1851, and which, under the pastorate of Rev. 
James B. Wilson, became the mother of the churches at the 
Highlands and Asbury Park; for Keyport, which was organ- 
ized in 1847, 3nd has floated the flag and successfully fought 
the Lord's battles for over half a century ; for the Second 
Church of Freehold, founded in 1842, and which has had the 
assurance, because located near the county courthouse, to 
outgrow and overshadow the older trees of the forest ; and 
last, but not least, I speak for the modest Church in Middle- 
town village, the first offspring of this duplex mother, which 
was introduced into the ecclesiastical world in 1836, and which 
with new "fixins" is still in her youth, albeit she has some gray 
mingling with the brown. 

139 



These seven churches, not of Asia, but of old Monmouth, 
located on Revolutionary ground, from the infant Asbury to 
the mature Middletown, rise up on their tiptoes, and make 
their profound genuflexions to-day to the double-headed Jeru- 
salem exalted on her two hundredth jeweled throne, which is 
in Zion the perfection of beauty out of which our God in grace 
and glory shines. 

Dear mother, what shall I say to you for these your admir- 
ing children? Personally I greet you w-ith pride. If I could 
wake up my great-grandfather. Dominie DuBois, peacefully 
sleeping near by — my great-grandfather because through my 
wife, who was his great-granddaughter, he adopted me in his 
family some years after his decease — I would get him to hurl 
some strong Dutch sentences at you in memory of the past. 

I address you wdth tenderness, for owing to my marriage 
relation I have preached in these churches many times in the 
years long ago. How well do I remember some of your old 
pastors, from Dr. Van Vranken and Dr. Reiley down ! How 
distinctly I recall the faces of elders and deacons, singers and 
Sabbath-school teachers, men and women, relatives and 
friends, who have passed away from these festive scenes, 
where to? Not the gloaming or the shadows, but through 
them into the golden, the everlasting, light of God in Heaven. 
Who knows but their spirits are now flitting over us, to dry 
each falling tear, to mitigate each throbbing pain, to catch 
each sigh, and fill to overflowing with holy joy every heart 
worshiping here this meditative hour? We stand on sacred 
ground, and is it all poetry, and only poetry, when in sweet 
emotion we sing: 

" Heaven comes down our souls to greet. 
And glory crowns the mercy seat." 

I must not prolong this tender greeting. Yet indulge me 
in one or two more thoughts. Probably the other speakers 
will also give them to you in better language than I can 
employ. 

Dear, loving churches, we, the younger members of the 
family, while we most heartily congratulate you that you have 

140 



reached the two hundredth milestone in your earthly journey, 
beg you will not talk of, or even think about, your growing 
old. The terms young and old, used in speaking concerning 
either individuals or churches, are only relative. If any per- 
son suggests to you the idea of decay, spurn it. Never for a 
moment consent to the suspicion that eventually, because of 
your age, you will become ecclesiastical fossils. Do not 
yield to decrepitude, even if it sometimes, like a snake, creeps 
near to you. Above all resist the suggestion that your work 
as a Church or churches is drawing to a close. That is the 
teaching of Satan. If the fathers and mothers of a century 
ago could arise from yonder tombs, and see your beautiful and 
substantial church edifices ; if they beheld the luxuries you 
now have in your homes ; the improvements in the country, 
the advance in civilization — yes, and if they at a glance could 
mark and realize the great progress made in Christian mis- 
sions during the nineteenth century now just closing; if they 
could take a good look into your Sabbath schools and your 
young people's societies of Christian Endeavor; if they could 
hear your rich church music ; if they could see the women 
banded together as they are for Christian work at home and 
abroad — methinks they would like to come back for a while to 
take a hand in the accomplishment of that which God has 
assigned to you. 

So our last word to you is: Be hopeful! Be hopeful! 
There's a better time coming. A better time here, if we may 
believe the glorious prophecies, and are looking for their ful- 
filment. And a better time, shall I say? No — a better pe- 
riod? No, for that supposes a termination. But a glorious 
eternity is before us. Churches, like individuals who are true 
Christians, will have a grand future in Heaven. Why not? 
They are but integral parts of that one great body of which 
Christ is the Head — the catholic, universal Church, part of 
which is below and part above, and which will eventually be 
gathered, one and undivided, around the mediatorial throne, 
to worship forever the eternal, blessed Mediator — Christ. 

Permit me in closing to give an illustration from my personal 

141 



experience. I have given it before, and doubtless will again. 
Some years ago a party were on their way to the Holy Land. 
We crossed the Alps, passing from France into Italy. It was 
a beautiful moonlight night. Swiftly we sped along in the 
express train. Looking out of the car window as we wound 
our way up the mountains and through the gorges, we noticed 
here and there huge banks of snow and ice, and the air be- 
came intensely cold. Presently we reached the dividing line, 
and we halted to be vised by the Government officials, as 
we were to pass from one country to another. This work 
accomplished, and our luggage having been examined and 
marked "approved," we again took our seats in the cars. And 
then we shot through Mt. Cenis tunnel, a distance of eight 
miles, which we accomplished in a short half hour. The air 
was cold and damp and darkness reigned supreme. It was as 
if we were going through the gateway of death. 

But it was soon over. The beautiful light of the morning 
broke in upon us. The day had dawned. The sun had arisen. 
And we were in lovely Italy, darting from the dark, cold, dis- 
mal tunnel into the land of bright skies and blooming flowers. 

Beloved pastors and people, honored and revered churches, 
which are to-day celebrating your bi-centennial, onward and 
upward ! You are ascending the Mount of God ; one by one 
you follow the fathers who have gone before. Never mind 
the cold or darkness, which may at times steal around you. 
Be not distressed. Only trust. If you trust in Jesus, when 
you come to the stopping place, the angels, who vise you, will 
stamp on your Faith and Hope and Love — all the. baggage 
you will need to take with you — "Washed in the btood of the 
Lamb." That will be your passport, and it will be all you need. 
And then Jesus Himself will be your Engineer, your Con- 
ductor, to lead you — your Friend, to welcome you. And what 
a host of others — led by DuBois, Van Vranken, Marcellus, Wil- 
lis. Reiley, Millspaugh, Ganse, Benjamin Wyckofif, Lockwood, 
James Wilson, Allen, Scudder, and other pastors of these 
churches — will meet you as you pass into the pearly gates, 
and cry out, "Welcome, welcome !" 

142 



GREETINGS FROM REPRESENTATIVES 

OF OTHER CHURCHES EARLY 

IN THE FIELD 



BAPTIST 
REV. R. B. FISHER, OF HOLMDEL, N. J. 

BRETHREN and sisters of the Reformed churches of 
Marlboro and Holmdel, I bring to you to-day fraternal 
greetings, Christian salutations, and heartiest congratu- 
lations on this the two hundredth anniversary of your organ- 
ization. 

I salute yon, first of all, because of your venerable years. 
We may rejoice in the child with life's possibilities before 
him; in the youth, because he is strong; in the mature man, 
because he is fulfilling his mission ; but the hoary head of one 
who has tested life and proved its nature by conquering in 
its battles is especially worthy of our admiration, love, and 
respect. The mighty oaks in the primeval woods of my 
Western boyhood life arouse deeper emotions and profounder 
reflections than the young sapling. 

That mighty body, the Papal Church, against whose doc- 
trines and practices we must stand like the everlasting hills, has 
at least the seductive chann of years. How often we are im- 
pressed in passing the Papal houses of worship with the fact 
that they are building for eternity. And upon this fact rest 
some of their most persuasive pleas for the unity of the Chris- 
tian Church within their body. Hence because your hair be- 
gins to be grizzled with age, I salute you. But it must not be 
thought that I salute you venerable and therefore feeble. Far 
be it from me. On account of your vigorous strength, sturdy 
stride, and the outreach after larger fields of conquest, I also 
salute you. 

But above everything else, I salute you for the truth which 

M3 



you represent. That body of Divinity which you received 
from the Reformation fathers you have sbU^ht to transmit 
unchanged from generation to generation. Those noble truths, 
which are the foundation of all our Christian Churchfes, you 
have clearly apprehended and faithfully taught for two cen- 
turies. All hail ! say I, to such a body. But I ought also to 
speak a word on behalf of that body which I represent, and 
whose spokesman I am on this historic occasion. I bring the 
congratulations of the Holmdel Church, of which I am pas- 
tor, of tlie ancient Church of Middletown, with which once 
we were one, as the Brick Church and Holmdel Reformed 
churches were one. And right glad I am to represent that 
body to-day, for we are a little older even than you are. In 
1665 this pleasant land was granted to a group of Baptists, 
who, fleeing from overcrowded Rhode Island and the pverse- 
cutions of Massachusetts and the other New England colonies, 
had found a genial refuge in the Dutch colony of New Am- 
sterdam. While we have no record prior to 1688, yet we 
know that the grantees settled immediately in the wooded 
hills and well-watered vales between here and the sea. And 
it would be preposterous to suppose that in that early day, 
when convictions of duty were so intense, eight Baptist 
families could live within a radius of fifteen miles and not 
maintain public worship. So that the one venerable body 
greets the other venerable body with all Christian love. 

I rejoice also to greet you because of the Christian truth 
which we represent. Both those views in which we are united 
and those in which we are separated. 

Out of those truths arises the very possibility of that 
warm Christian fellowship which characterizes the life of 
these two bodies in the same community. 

We come with the open Bible in the one hand, believing 
in its Divine origin, in its absolute truth and complete au- 
thority over the conscience of the believer ; in the other hand 
bearing the inalienable right of the believers to study, reflect 
upon, and interpret that Word without molestation from any 
man. Church, creed, or government. For these principles our 

144 



fathers fled to the wilderness, and for them we stand to-day. 
But that right which we claim for ourselves to interpret God's 
word must be just as firmly granted to those who reach dif- 
ferent conclusions. This is Christian liberty, not toleration. 
Therefore we can joyfully greet you in that common yet Di- 
vine life which characterizes you. 

But we ought also to-day to recognize those social ties 
which bind these two peoples together. There is many a 
Dutch name now upon Baptist Church books ; and many a 
descendant of those ancient Baptists is found to be a member 
of a Reformed Church. Hence we can see that there has 
been an intermingling of blood and intertwining of affections 
to a very remarkable degree. Possibly Dr. Welles is right 
about the first coming of the Dutch into this country, but I 
think there was one earlier than he said. At an early day, 
said by the historian to have been 1620, but which internal 
evidence convinces me was about 1660, a Dutch vessel filled 
with immigrants was wrecked upon Sandy Hook. The ship'% 
company escaped and marched toward New Amsterdam and 
escaped the savages. But they brutally left behind them 
Penelope Van Princis (maiden name) and her husband of 9. 
name unknown. The husband was sick and could not march. 
The wife would not desert him. Beset by the Indians, the 
husband was slain and the wife left for dead. Rallying her 
strength, she hid by day within a hollow tree, and sought to 
stay her hunger by night with the wild berries. Subsequently 
captured by a friendly Indian, she was carried to New York 
and liberated. In that city she met Richard Stout, who won 
her love and became her second husband. Richard Stout 
was one of the original grantees previously mentioned, and 
Penelope A^an Princis Stout the first Dutch resident of Mon- 
mouth County. This practice of intermarriage between fam- 
ilies of the two denominations is said to have been ofttimes 
repeated during the two centuries which followed. Indeed, 
there are faint rumors that it may be repeated in the future. 
Is it not good that love knows no denominational lines? God 
is in it. 

145 



Thus for two centuries these two streams of life have been 
flowing side by side with only a narrow bank between. Proba- 
bly they will thus continue to flow peacefully along until that 
great day when He, the Lx)rd of Life, shall come, beneath 
whose feet the bank will crumble away, and we all shall be 
outwardly as well as inwardly one in Christ Jesus. 

That the coming centuries may be even more full of Chris- 
tian blessedness than the past is the earnest prayer of myself 
and the Church in whose name I have spoken to-day. 



PRESBYTERIAN 
JAMES STEEN, ESQ., OF EATONTOWN, N. J. 

IT is a peculiar pleasure, Mr. Moderator and brethren, rep- 
resenting the sister denomination to which I belong, for 
me to express to you to-day her congratulations upon 
your past, her heartiest good wishes for your future. 

It is the greater pleasure when we consider all that our 
respective communions have been to each other, in those da}s 
of old, the storied pages of which makes the blood course more 
swiftly in the veins of all who love the good, the brave, the 
noble, and the true. And of all those storied pages, none 
compels greater gratitude and profounder admiration from 
the whole Protestant world than the history of the Nether- 
lands. Whether with 20,000 turning back the 200,000 French, 
or thundering at the very sluores of Great Britain with the 
guns of De Ruyter and Van Tromp — giving a Protestant 
monarch to Great Britain, or writing in the jurisprudence of 
the world the principle laid down by her own great jurist, De 
Groot, that the highways of the sea were free unto all nations 
— Holland made good the prophecy of Hendrick Van Brede- 
rode when he accepted for his nation, as a badge of honor, 
the Spanish taunt of the "Beggars of the Sea." Calvinistic 
Courage, or Courageous Calvinism, has ever been the Dutch 
characteristic. And from the bloody streets of Paris, as also 
from the crimsoned heather of Caledonia, persecuted Presby- 

146 



terians always found refuge, shelter, and succor behind the 
dikes of Holland. 

And in America the debt of the Presbyterians to the Dutch 
Church has yet to be fully computed. Let us turn a page in 
the ledger and see something of what the "Church of the 
Neversinks" did for Presbyterianism in Monmouth County. 
Over on yonder hill, one hundred and ninety-one years ago 
last month, a band of Scotch Presbyterians were laying in 
the grave their young preacher. There were old men and 
women there, scarred and mutilated, and bent with age and 
toil; there were young men and women there also who had 
not known the cruel suffering of their parents. Who preached 
the funeral sermon we can not tell. Perhaps the pious Scotch 
Nonjuror from Leedsville, "Dr. Innes," read the Episcopal 
burial service. But they were not all there. Many had died, 
more had pushed on to Allentown, to Pennsylvania, and "the 
lower counties of the Delaware" — yes, and to the Carolinas, 
where they were to sow the seed that was afterward to blos- 
som in the famous Mecklenburg Declaration. 

And it was but a small and discouraged band of Chris- 
tians that stood that day by that open grave. Small hope, 
from a human standpoint, that in a year's time another pastor 
should shepherd their little flock. But all things whatsoever 
Cometh to pass are ordained of God. Up in Connecticut, in 
1 67 1, there was born a grandson to a Welsh Episcopalian who 
had landed at Boston thirty-five years before. For nearly a 
dozen years he had been preaching in the churches of Green- 
wich, Conn., and of Bedford, N. Y., when John Boyd was 
laid to rest on Free Hill. Studying the Dutch language to 
the end that he might preach the gospel therein, he came in 
1709, as you have heard, to the First Collegiate Church of 
Monmouth County. (James Morgan, born in Wales, 1607; 
sailed for Boston, March, 1636; married Margery Hill of 
Roxbury, Mass., on August 6, 1640; died, 1685, at the age of 
seventy-eight; had a son, Joseph, who married Dorothy, 
daughter of Thomas Parke. Their son, Rev. Joseph Morgan, 
born November 6, 1671, was settled over first Church in 

147 



Greenwich, Conn., 1697. He was dismissed and settled over 
second Church, Greenwich, in 1700, in which year he was 
ordained by the Fairfield Association. He also preached in 
the Bedford, Westchester County, N. Y., Presbyterian Church 
from 1699. This was about a dozen miles from Greenwich. 
In 1709 he came to Monmouth.) And here for twenty years 
he labored, and the two churches, Dutch and Scotch, Re- 
formed and Presbyterian, side by side, one in faith, doctrine, 
and form of government, went on in harmonious partnership, 
separating with the best of feeling. The Presbyterians were 
strong enough to call a pastor by themselves, to build a new 
house of worship where Tennent now stands, and to take 
with them not a few of their Dutch brethren. In 1749, when 
the Royal Governor granted charter to Monmouth's Presby- 
terians, the list of corporators included Jonathan Forman, 
who had united with this Church (Brick Church) in 1714; 
Stoffel (written Christopher) Longstreet, and Tobias Polhe- 
mus, while the list of pewholders of Old Tennent included 
such names as Hendrick Voorhees, Tunis Vanderveer, John 
Truax, William Van Scoyac, Michael Sweetman, William 
Wikoff, Benjamin Van Cleefe, Richard Van Matre, Kortenius 
Schanck, John Longstreet, John Stilleman, Derrick Sutphen, 
William Van Kirk. 

Small wonder, then, that for a motto upon their corporate 
seal they inscribed the legend, "Religious Liberty" ; and when. 
a quarter of a century later, a Wikoff and a Forman led 
Washington to the field of Monmouth, there around Old Ten- 
nent, Reformed and Presbyterian, Dutch and Scotch (and 
some in whose veins flowed the mingled blood of both) alike 
gave battle for those principles of civil Liberty which for- 
ever ensure our "Religious Liberty." What would have been 
the future of that struggling Presbyterian Church in 1709 had 
it not been for the assistance of this Church, or what the 
measure of our indebtedness to your fathers, who shall say? 
But this, at least, after two centuries of mutual love and con- 
fidence, bound together in a union of esteem and brotherly 
affection, and union far more real and vital than many an 

148 



organic one has been, with one voice Monmouth Presbyterians 
exclaim to-day — "God bless the Reformed Church in America 
and the 'Church in the Neversinks' for what they have been 
and done for Christianity and for Presbyterianism, and grant 
that a glorious past may be an earnest of a far more fruitful, 
blessed future. 

And yet, standing on this mount of privilege, about which 
cluster so many memories, it seems to me, we shall fail to 
apprehend the chief and crowning thought, unless we recog- 
nize the controlling influence in the lives of the fathers of the 
underlying principles they professed. 

For I am persuaded that if ever the manhood of our nation 
is to be won back to the Church of Christ, it will be by re- 
emphasizing those virile doctrines and stupendous truths of 
the Pauline Theology the possession of which made them the 
invincible advocates of civil and religious liberty that they 
were. And we have come here to-day to little purpose if we 
have not received an inspiration to greater love and stronger 
devotion to that system of theology the enjoyment of which 
they procured at so great a price, but unto which we have 
been born. No system in modern times has had a more potent 
practical influence upon mankind. Calvinism is a system of 
splendid daring and of courageous consistency in all its parts — 
in premise, in process, in conclusion. It is a reasoned system. 
Reason can understand it, and the reason that can understand it 
can control. It is the Universe, in its making, in its being, in its 
rule, in its purpose, and in its destiny, controlled by a given 
conception of God. And men who hold that conception feel 
that their feet are set upon the last and highest reality — that 
theirs is not merely a way of Salvation, or a path to peace in 
death, but a system of absolute Truth, a system that enables 
the man who holds it to look at all things as of the Ah-nighty. 
Let us. then — Reformed or Presbyterian — holding fast to the 
doctrines of Divine Sovereignty and the priesthood of the indi- 
vidual believer, press forward to more and greater work for 
the Master with that persistent, persevering faith which 
thrives best of all in a Calvinistic atmosphere. 

149 



BURIAL PLACES OF THE NAVASINK 
CHURCH AND ITS TWO BRANCHES 



BY REV. ABRAM I. MARTINE 



IN all the various stages of the world's history from its 
earliest period one of the distinguishing marks of refined 

and civilized people has been regard for the memory and 
care of the dead. Thus it is that we find Abraham bargain- 
ing with Ephron for the cave of Machpelah. that in it he 
might lay his dead. The members of the Navasink Church 
and its two branches have not been wanting in that respect, 
for we find that they have had from the very beginning of 
their history places where they might bury their dead. We 
call attention to these. In the Middletown branch we find 
four such places. 

First, the one where was located for so many years the 
White Meeting House,* about one and a half miles from 
Holmdel, on the road to Middletown. Upon the removal of 
the church building to the village of Holmdel many families 
removed the bodies of their dead to the beautiful cemetery 
on the hill. There are several stones still left to mark the old 
spot. 

Second, the Schenck-Couwenhoven cemetery in Pleasant 
Valley, in which may be found many stones marking the rest- 
ing place of the dead. When the Holmdel cemetery was 
opened many were removed from this sacred spot to it. 

Third, the family burial ground of John Couwenhoven, 
whose name is found among the forty-nine members at the 
organization of the Church. This ground is located near the 
village of Middletown, opposite the farm of John Golden. 



* Dr. Welles in his book published in 1877 calls this the Red Meeting House — 
which was true, as in its earlier period it was Red — hut in its later period it was 
painted \\'hite and so called to distinRuish it from the old Freehold Church, which 
was Re'd, and remained so until it was taken down in 1825. 



Fourth, the cemetery located on the hill overlooking Pleas- 
ant Valley. This cemetery was oponed up after the removal 
of the church to the village of Holmdel, and to which many 
of the bodies that had been laid away in the other burial places 
were brought for reinterment. 

In the Freehold or Brick Church section we have : 

First, the cemetery by the church at Bradevelt, which be- 
gan with the history of what was known as the Red Meeting 
House. Many who were buried in this ground are resting 
beneath the present building, as it exceeds by several feet in 
width and many in length the former meeting house. In this 
cemetery are found representatives of all the families con- 
nected with the Church. 

Second, the burial place on the farm of Peter Conover, 
located about two and a half miles from Marlboro, on the road 
to Freehold. This ground has lately come into public notice 
by action of the Wyckoff family, which had a family reunion 
on this ground October 19, 1904. 

Third, the Benjamin Van Cleaf burial ground, located on 
the road from Bradevelt to Robertsville, on the farm belong- 
ing to John W. Ely, nearly opposite the farmhouse. This 
place is no longer marked by any stone — the last one, bearing 
inscription of Benjamin Van Cleaf, having been removed sev- 
eral years ago and placed in the cemetery by the church. 

Fourth, the Hans Van Noortstrandt* cemetery. Location 
of this ground is on the hill overlooking the mill pond, near 
Marlboro. It is on the farm belonging to Mr. Charles Wyck- 
off, but known for many years as the Laird farm. There re- 
mains one stone to mark the place. 

Fifth, the Van Dom burial place, which was on the Jacob 
Van Doom fann, near Hillsdale, now owned by Mrs. Eleanor 
Carson. Traces of this burial place are entirely obliterated, 
but evidences of its existence are to be had in headstones which 
may be seen in various places about the buildings on the farm. 



* The family of Honces, residents of this county, are the lineal descendants 
of this Hans Van Noortstrandt, and by rights should now be bearing that name 
now called Van Nostrand. The study of the ancestorial line as found in the old 
recoras of the church is very interesting, and clearly reveals how the family name 
in time was shortened by the dropping of the Van Noortstrandt. 



APPENDIX 




REV. ABRAM IRVING MARTINE 

PASTOR OF THE " OLD BRICK CHURCH " AT BRADEVELT, N. J. 



REV. ABRAM IRVING MARTINE 

PASTOR OF THE "OLD BRICK CHURCH" 
AT BRADEVELT, N. J. 



THE Rev. Abram Irving Martine was born at Clarks- 
town, Rockland County, N. Y., October 19, 1848. His 
ancestors on his father's side came from Holland, of 
the Vanderbelt stock, and from France of the French Hugue- 
not ; on his mother's side, he traces his ancestorial line back to 
old mother England. Early in life he left his father's house 
to accept a situation with one of the largest mercantile firms 
in New York City. During a season of revival that swept 
over a portion of that city he was converted. Shortly after his 
uniting with the Church, while listening to a sermon preached 
by Rev. Peter Stryker, D.D., in the Reformed Church of 
Thirty-fourth Street, his thought was directed toward the 
ministry. In 1868 he entered the grammar school at New 
Brunswick, and pursued his course through Rutgers College, 
graduating with the :class of 1873, continuing his studies in 
the Seminary, from which he graduated in 1876. He was 
licensed by Classis of Paramus to preach, and in June of that 
same year he was ordained pastor of the Reformed Church at 
Stanton, N. J., by the Classis of Philadelphia. He served this 
people from 1876 to 1882, and then removed to Manhasset, 
L. I., he having accepted a call from the Reformed Church 
of North Hempstead. Classis of North Long Island installed 
him pastor in charge in May, 1882. While serving this Church, 
the people were led to remodel and beautify the interior of the 
church, at a cost to them of nearly $3,000. During that same 
period, through the generosity of one family — children of 
Horatio Onderdonk — a new and commodious parsonage was 
built, at a cost of over $6,000. In this field he was also privi- 
leged to welcome into the membership of the Church a man 

155 



— Mr. Elbert Bogart — who had passed beyond threescore and 
ten years, and who, shortly after his uniting with the Church, 
made his will, leaving to that Church a great part of his estate, 
which, to the amount of $40,000, came to the Church on his 
decease in the nineties of the last century. In 1891 he ac- 
cepted a call from the Presbyterian Church of Dunellen, N. 
J., and was installed pastor of that Church in May of that 
year. In his pastorate in this field it was his joy and privilege 
to guide his Church through two revivals, both of which 
brought great good to the Church. In the spring of 1896 he 
was permitted to welcome to the membership of the Church 
42 on confession and 8 by letter. During this same pastorate 
he was permitted to see the erection of a large and commo- 
dious chapel, the cost of which, over $3,000, was met by the 
people, who at the time of dedication most generously sub- 
scribed the amount necessary to meet payment in full. The 
pastorate so blessed in many ways came to a close in April, 
1900, when he accepted a call to the pastorate of this old 
historic Church at Bradevelt, and over which he was installed 
by Classis of Monmouth May 3, 1900. 

He married November 16. 1876, Anna M. Wyckoff, only 
daughter of Cornelius Wyckoflf and Mary Hoffman Wyckoff, 
with whom he was permitted to round out twenty years of 
happy married life. In the summer of 1896 she took a heavy 
cold, from which she could not free herself, although having 
the best medical aid ; and suddenly, January 19, 1897, she de- 
parted this life, "to be absent from the body and present with 
the Lord." Her body is quietly resting in the beautiful Pros- 
pect Hill cemetery at Flemington, N. J. Her spirit is with 
.the Lord. 

"Love and peace they taste forever, 

And all truth and knowledge see 
In the beatific vision 

Of the blessed Trinity." 

August 3, 1898, Rev. Mr. Martine married Mrs. Olivia B. 
Chandler, widow of Mr. William Chandler, and daughter of 
Oliver B. Gaston and Sarah Alleta Wortman. 

156 




REV. GARRET WYCKOFF 

PASTOR OF THE CHURCH AT HOLMDEL 



REV. GARRET WYCKOFF 

PASTOR OF THE CHURCH AT HOLMDEL 



THE Rev. Garret Wyckoff was born at Roycefield, N. J., 
August 13, 1855. His ancestors were of the good old 
Dutch stock who first settled and for many years lived 
amid the scenes where their descendant now so acceptably 
labors. His earlier education, after leaving the public school, 
was received at Hasbrouck Institute, Jersey City, N. J. Con- 
tinuing his studies, he entered Rutgers College Grammar 
School, and pursued the course of studies on through the col- 
lege, from which he graduated with the class of 1881. In 
the fall oif that same year he entered the Theological Semi- 
nary at New Brunswick, from which he graduated in May of 
1884. He was licensed to preach the gospel of Christ by the 
Classics of Passaic, and ordained by the Classis of Raritan pas- 
tor of the Reformed Church at Annandale, N. J., in 1884. 
This Church he served until 1886, when he left, having been 
called to the Reformed Church of Currytown, N. Y., where 
he remained one year, and then removed to Metuchen, N. J., 
to take charge of the Reformed Church of that village. He 
was installed as pastor in 1887. His pastorate with this Church 
continued until 1894, when he removed to Holmdel, he having 
accepted a call from the Reformed Church of that village. 
Classis of Monmouth installed him in the office of pastor over 
this Church in Februar}^ of that year. What has been accom- 
plished by him and his people in this field during his pastorate 
up to the present time is in part told in the historic address 
found in another part of this book. In 1898 he began a course 
of study imder the direction of Taylor University, and, having 
passed the examinations, received from that institution in 1901 
the degree of Ph.D. In 1903 he began a movement for a 

157 



reunion of the descendants of Garret Wikoff. This movement 
eventuated in a reunion held in the old burial ground on Mr. 
Peter Conover's farm, near Freehold, N. J., on Wednesday, 
October 19, 1904. The ground was rechristened "The Wikoff 
Family Burial Ground," and a committee was appointed to 
look after the ground and arrange for future gatherings. 

Rev. Mr. Wyckofif married, October 20, 1887, Anna M. 
Miller, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., only daughter of John V. H, 
Miller and Mary E. Dockstader. 



158 




REV. THEODORE WYCKOFF WELLES, D.D. 



REV. THEODORE WYCKOFF 
WELLES, D. D. 



THE following is, save a few lines, from a work entitled 
"Ancestral Tablets, or An Account of the Descendants 
of Governor Thomas Welles of Connecticut": 
"Theodore Wyckofif Welles was the third son of the Rev. 
Ransford Wells, D.D., and Joanna Hardenburgh, He was 
born in the city of Newark, Essex County, N. J., May 6, 
1839. He attended the Academy in Schoharie Village, Scho- 
harie County, N. Y., until about fourteen years of age, when 
failing health made it necessary for him to cease all study. 
To occupy the time he became a clerk in stores at Schoharie, 
at Cobleskill, and at Albany, N. Y. When eighteen years of 
age he taught school at Niskayuna, Schenectady County, N. 
Y., and subsequently at Fonda, the meanwhile reading law 
with the Hon. Frothingham Fish, of Fultonville, Montgomery 
County, N. Y. 

• "He made a public profession o^f his faith in Christ October 
16, 1859, in the Third Reformed Church, since known as the 
Park Avenue Reformed Church of Jersey City, N. J. He en- 
tered the Junior Class of Rutgers College, graduating in 1862. 
Continuing his studies, he graduated from the Theological 
Seminary at New Brunswick, N. J., in 1865. The same year 
he was licensed to preach the gospel by the Classis of Mont- 
gomery and ordained by the South Classis of Bergen pastor 
of the Reformed Church of Bergen Neck, Hudson County, N. 
J. A short time after his settlement the name of the church 
was changed to the First Reformed Church of Bayonne. The 
congregation rapidly increased, a parsonage was built and a 
new house of worship erected. In 1873 he became pastor of the 
First Reformed Church at Freehold, known as the old Brick 
Church at Marlboro, Monmouth County, N. J. After a 

1^9 



successful pastorate here of more than fourteen years, he 
accepted a call to the Fourth Reformed Church at Philadel- 
phia, Pa., and was installed as its pastor December i, 1887. 
In a few months he was called to the pastorate of the Second 
Reformed Church of Totowa at Paterson, N. J., and was 
there installed May 6, 1889. He received the honorary degree 
of D.D. in 1893 from Rutgers College. He married, May 27, 
1863, Jane Elizabeth Van Dyck, only daughter of Rev. Law- 
rence H, Van Dyke and Christina Hoes. Mrs. Welles was a 
most devoted helper in the calling which Providence had as- 
signed her, being prominent in the various organizations of 
the churches to which her husband ministered in holy things. 
In the last few years of her life she was more or less of an 
invalid, and on January 7, 1898, she heard the call which came 
to her from the Heavenly Land, her body being laid away 
to await the summons from on hiarh. 



" ' Kissed by the white pinioned Angel of Peace, 

Sleep with hands folded upon thy calm breast. 
Thou art from earthly cares granted release 
After life's weariness, rest, sweetly rest.' 



"On April 24, 1900, Dr. Welles married Mary Sophia Dur- 
yea, daughter of Rev. John H. Duryea, D.D.,* and Elizabeth 
Thompson. 

"He is a member and recording secretary of the Board of 
Education of the Reformed Church in America, a trustee and 
vice-president of the Paterson Orphan Asylum Association, 
a director and vice-president of the Paterson Rescue Mission, 
stated clerk and treasurer of the Classis of Paramus, trustee, 
secretary, and treasurer of the William Stinson Library of 
Paterson, and a member of the New Jersey Historical So- 
ciety and of the New York Genealogical and Biographical 
Society." 



* John H. Duryea, D.D., was pastor for over 56 years of the church which Dr. 
Welles now serves, his pastorate beginning February 17, 1839, and ending with 
his death, August 7, 1895. 

160 




REV. CHARLES WILLIAM VAN ZEE, Ph.D. 



REV. CHARLES WILLIAM VAN 
ZEE, Ph.D. 



BORN at Bayonne, N. J., January 9, 1867, of Dutch lin- 
eage. His early education was received in the public 
schools of Bayonne and Jersey City. After graduating- 
from Eastman's Business College, he entered Rutgers College, 
graduating in 1890, and from the Theological Seminary at 
New Brunswick in 1893. He at once became pastor of the 
First Refonned Church of Freehold (Marlboro, N. J.), where 
he was ordained to the ministry and installed pastor May 24, 
1893. His ministry there was blessed, many being added to 
the Church, and at the evening service held in the chapel at 
Marlboro village the overflowing audiences were always in- 
terested. 

In 1900 he accepted a call to Trinity Church, Amsterdam, 
N. Y. His settlement there was brief, and for a few months 
he was without charge, when in April, 1902, he became pastor 
of the Reformed Church of High Bridge, N. J. This pas- 
torate opened auspiciously and gave promise of rich results, 
until May, 1903, when signs of failing health made it neces- 
sary for him to ask for a dissolution of the pastoral relation. 
Although under the best medical treatment, his condition 
grew rapidly more serious, and no hopes were entertained 
for his recovery; on Sunday, August 16, he was called home. 

Mr. Van Zee was a man of commanding presence and 
possessed of a powerful and rich voice. During the greater 
part of his student days he was a valuable member of the 
College Glee Club. Possessed of a scholarly mind, he was a 
clear thinker and a great reader. During his pastorate at 

161 



Marlboro he took a course of study under the direction of 
Taylor University, and received the degree of Ph.D. in 1899. 

Always genial, unselfish, generous, he made friends, and 
was ever ready to spend and be spent for them. His days 
of labor in the Master's vineyard were few, but they were 
filled with the earnestness of a soul that loved his fellow men, 
and the desire to win them to the Christ he served. 

Mr. Van Zee was married in 1893 to Miss Lilian Rogers, 
who survives him. 



T(^2 




THE STONES WHICH MARK THE RESTING PLACE 
OF BENJAMIN DuBOIS AND HIS WIFE 



THE STONES WHICH MARK THE RESTING PLACE OF 

BENJAMIN Dubois and his wife, and 

INSCRIPTIONS ON THEM 

TOGETHER WITH A FEW INSCRIPTIONS TAKEN FROM 
STONES IN THE CEMETERY AT BRICK CHURCH 



In ^Memory of 

The Rev. Benjamin DuBois, 

who departed this life 

August 21, 1827, 

Aged 88 years, 4 months, and 11 days. 

He was pastor of the United Dutch Church of Freehold 
and Middletown 62 years. In his department he set 
a worthy example to his flock. In his preach- 
ing he was sound, faithful, and aflfectionate. 

"He lived in peace, in peace he died, 
His Master's glory near his heart. 
He preached of Christ and none beside. 
And with Him now enjoys his part." 

In Memory of 

Phebe Denise, 

Relict of 

The Rev. Benjamin DuBois, 

who departed this life 

January 7, 1839, 

Aged 95 years, 4 months, and 26 days. 

"O could this tomb her fair example spread, 
And teach the living, while it praised the dead. 
Then, reader, should it speak her hope divine, 
Not to record her faith, but strengthen thine. 
Then should her Christian virtues stand confessed 
And kindle Christian virtues in thy breast." 

Rev. Garret C. Schenk, 
Bom Sept. 14, 1806, 
Died Sept. 17, 1888. 

His wife, 

Sar.\h a. Hendrickson, 

Buried at Pompton Plains, N. J. 

163 



Rev. Charles W. Van Zee, Ph.D, 
1867— 1903. 

Garret Conover, Esq., 

Died about Nov. i, 1812, 

Aged 86 years and 6 months. 



Also his wife, 

Ann Schenck, 

Died April 5, 1803, 

Aged 49 years, 7 months, and 2"] days. 

Jane, 

Wife of 

Rev. Garret C. Schenck, 

Born Aug. 2, 1824, 

Died May 9, 1902. 

Rev. Alexander C. Millspaugh, 
Born Jan. 12, 1810, 
Died Dec. 5, 1885. 



Sarah A. Barriclo, 

His wife. 

Born Aug. 14, 1818. Died Jan. 30, 1901. 

Here lies Interr'd the body of Koere Schenck, who departed this life 
June the Second Day in the Year of Our Lord One Thou- 
sand Seven Hundred and Seventy-One and in the 
Sixty-Ninth Year of his Age. 

In Memory of 

Colonel John Coven hoven, 

who departed this life 

On the 23d day of April, 1803, 

In the 70th year of his age. 

In Memory of 

Hendrick Smock, 

who departed this life 

March 25, 1814, 

Aged 64 years and 5 months. 

164 



Here lies Interr'd the body of Garret, Son of Koere and Mary 

Schenck, who departed this life May the Twenty-Second in 

Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and 

Sixty-One in the Thirty-Sixth Year of his Age. 



In Memory of 

John Zutphen, 

WHO DIED May the 13TH, 1795, 

Aged 61 years, 3 months, and 20 days. 



In Memory of 
Garret Van Derveer, 

WHO departed THIS LIFE 

The 31st of January, 1803, 
Aged 71 years, 10 months, and 14 days. 

Sacred to the Memory of 

Garret Wickoff, 

A Patriot of the Revolution, 

who departed this life 

May 10, 1850, 

Aged 91 years, 11 months, and 27 days. 



Sacred to the Memory of 

Hellenah Van Cleaf, 

Wife of 

Garret Wickoff, 

Who died July 6, 1832, 

Aged ^y years, 4 months, and 11 days. 



Sacp-ED to the Memory of 

Patience, 

Wife of 

Garret Wickoff, 

And Daughter of 

James Scott and Margaret Van Cleaf, 

who departed this life 

April 24, 1845, 

Aged 62) years, 9 months, and 18 days. 



165 



In Memory of 

John Coven hoven, 

Son of Garret and Eleanor Coven hoven, 

who departed this life 

On Tuesday, the nth of May, 

In the Year of Our Lord 1802, 

Aged 41 years, 11 months, and 18 days. 



A husband and father dear, 
A man of faith lies buried here. 



As you are now so once was I; 
Prepare, for surely all must die. 
As I am now you soon must be ; 
Prepare for death and follow me. 



t66 




TOMBSTONE OF GARRET WIKOFF * 

WHOSE REMAINS ARE RESTING IN THE BURIAL GROUND ON THE 
PETER CONOVER FARM NEAR FREEHOLD, N. J. 



* Garret Wikoff is the great-great-grandfather of the Rev. Garret Wyckoflf, 
Ph.D., pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church at Holmdel, N. J., and Rev. John 
H. Wyckoff, D.n., missionary of the Reformed Dutch Church to India. 



THE BURIAL GROUND ON THE 
PETER CONOVER FARM 



The following inscriptions were taken from stones 
standing in that ground: 



Garret WikofFj 

Died November 2, 1770, 

Aged 66 years, 7 months, and 28 days. 

Altie Garretsie, 

The Wife of Garret Wikoff, 

Died February 19, 1740, 

Aged 34 years, 3 months, and 6 days. 



William Wikoff, 

Died September 18, 1782, 

Aged 75 years. 

Agnes, 

Wife of William Wikoff, 

Died July 26, 1777, 

Aged 73 years. 



Catherine Wikoff Forman, 

Died September 2, 1813, 

Aged 72 years, 4 months, and 12 days. 



EZEKIEL, 

Consort of Catherine Wikoff, 

Died December 15, 1828, 

In his 80th year. 



167 



Daniel Barcalo, 

Died June 28, 1795, 

Aged 74 years, 6 months, and 2 days. 



In Memory of 

Capt. Jacob Forman, 

Who entered the Merchants Service at the age of 14 

At the Port of New York. 

He progressed 

By regular grade to the 

Command of a ship, 

Remaining in the Service 

30 years, until within a few 

Years of his death, 

Which took place 

June 16, 1841, 

In the 58th year of his age. 



In this burial-ground rests the body of Tunis Denyse, the father 
of Phebe Denyse, who married Rev. Benjamin DuBois. The stone 
which marked his grave, being of soft sandstone, has long since crum- 
bled to pieces, so that the exact spot in the ground can not now be 
located. The death of Mr. Denyse is fixed by papers held by his de- 
scendants. 

Tunis Denyse was born June 15, 1704; died June 10, I797- His 
parents were Denyse Denyse and Helena Cortelyou, of Long Island, 
N. Y. 

Tunis Denyse is the great-grandfather of Sarah Denyse, who mar- 
ried John Baird. His will, dated April 2, 1792, proved January 16, 
1798, can be seen in Book y] of Wills, page 350, office Secretary of 
State, Trenton, N. J. 



168 




PICTURE OF MILL POND NEAR MARLBORO 

WITH STAR LOCATING THE SPOT OF THE VAN NOORTSTRANDT BURIAL GROUND 



VAN NOORTSTRANDT BURIAL GROUND 



V 

The following is the inscription on the stone that still 
stands in the ground at that place : 

Here lies interr'd the body of 

Anteje, 

Daughter of John and Halaner Hans, 

who departed this life 

, September Seventeen, 

Annoq Domno, Seventeen Hundred and Fifty-Seven, 
Aged 24 years, 10 months, and 24 days. 



Note by the Editor. — The church record shows that the above party was bap- 
tized as dauerhter of Johannes Hansen Van Noortstrandt, one of the proofs con- 
cerning the line of the Honce family. 

169 



THE VAN KLEEF BURIAL GROUND 



Inscription taken from the stone now in cemetery at 
Brick Church that formerly stood in the above- 
mentioned ground : 

Here lies interr'd the body of 

Benjamin Van Kleef, 

who departed this life 

October six day, 

Anno Domino 1747, 

Aged 6;i years, 9 months, and 27 days. 



170 



JACOB VAN DOREN BURIAL GROUND 



The following- is an inscription taken from one of the 
stones to be seen at the farmhouse: 

The body of 

Isaac, 

Son of Jacob and Mary Vandoren, 

who departed this life 

October the fifth, 

Anno Domino one thousand seven hundred 

and forty-nine, 

Aged 10 years, 9 months, and 11 days. 

This Isaac was the grandson of Jacob Van Doom, one of 
the original 49 charter members of the Church oi Navasink, 
and who became the owner of 675 acres of land, of which the 
farm now owned by Mrs. Eleanor Carson was a part. This 
land remained in possession of the Van Dom family until 
purchased by Mrs. Carson. 



171 



THE WHITE MEETING HOUSE 
BURIAL GROUND 



Inscriptions taken from headstones in the White 
Meeting House Yard, Holmdel: 

John C. Van Mater, 

Born January, 1793, 
Died September 8, 1867. 



Derrick Zutphen, 

Died February 18, 1832 

Aged 'J^ years, 9 months, and 6 days. 



Mary, 

Wife of Derrick Zutphen, 

Died April 13, 1824, 

Aged 51 years, 4 months, and 16 days. 



Alchey Snider, 

Wife of Derrick Zutphen, 

Died September 30, 1837, 

Aged 76 years, 2 months, and 25 days. 



172 



SCHENCK-COUWENHOVEN CEMETERY 



Inscriptions from headstones in the Schenck-Cou- 
wenhoven cemetery, Pleasant Valley: 

Albert CouwENHOVEisr, 

Born December 6, 1676, 

Died September 13, 1748, 

Aged 72 years, 9 months, and 6 days. 



Neeltje Schenck, 

Wife of Albert Couwenhoven, 

Died July 27, 1751, 

Aged 70 years, 6 months, and 4 days. 



RuLiF G. Schenck, 

Died August 22, 1768, 

Aged 71 years, 3 months, and 25 days. 



Neeltje Voorheese, 

Wife of Garret R. Schenck, 

Died August 4, 175°, 

Aged yz years, 10 months, and 4 days. 



'^I?^ 



MRS. LYDIA HENDRTCKSON 
SCHENCK CONOVER 



WE insert the following item concerning the above- 
named, beUeving that it will be of interest to many 
who have had the pleasure of corresponding with 
her in reference to names and dates of births, marriages and 
deaths found in the old record of the Reformed Dutch Church 
of Navasink, which begins with the year 1709: 

Mrs. Conover, on her father's side, is a descendant of Jan 
Schenck, who was born February 10, 1670, and died Januar}^ 
30, 1753, and Sarah Couwenhoven, who was bom January 6, 
1675, and died January 31, 1761. The tombstones of these 
two can be seen in the Schenck-Couwenhoven cemetery in 
Pleasant Valley. On her mother's side she is a descendant 
of Albert Couwenhoven, who was born December 6, 1676, and 
died September 13, 1748, and Neeltje Schenck, who was born 
January 23, 1681, and died July 27, 1751. 

The tombstones of these can be seen in the Holmdel ceme- 
tery, to which they were removed from the new Schenck-Cou- 
wenhoven cemetery upon the opening of the new ground. The 
two couples mentioned above were among the original 49 
members who organized the Reformed Dutch Church of Nava- 
sink. 

Mrs. Conover possesses to a very marked degree the char- 
acteristic features, mental and physical, of these two families ; 
and which would be the natural result looked for by a student 
who holds in the slightest degree the theory of evolution, as 
Jan and Neeltje Schenck were brother and sister, and Albert 
and Sarah Couwenhoven sustained a similar relation to each 
other. 

Mrs. Lydia Conover resides at Marlboro. N. J., and sus- 
tains relations with a branch of the Church which her grand- 
sires helped to establish. 

174 



AN ERROR 



We take this opportunity to correct an error to be found 
in the memorial of the Brick Church published in 1877, 
found on page 85, under date 1719: Hendrick Voorhees and 
Jannetje Van Aersdale (not Hendrickson, as in the memorial), 
his wife. 



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